Redemption
by Lilabeth36
Summary: A smart man makes his own luck... the trick is making it last. Part four of a series. Won't make sense unless you've read "Lifeline", "Devil's Own" and "Home" in that order first
1. Chapter 1

_I get nothing for writing this except some amusement. Everything belongs to JK Rowlings. _

_****This is the fourth in a series. It will make much more sense if you read the others first. "Lifeline" "Devil's Own" and then "Home". Have mercy on me... I am writing this with a baby on my lap. And thank-you for reading!****_

_Any day, now... it's gonna start - my real life. _

_And any day, now: everything is gonna be all right... _

_Any day, now: life's gonna get real good. _

_And somehow: life'll be like I said it would_

-Any Day Now by Bif Naked

_Before the story begins, is it such a sin_

_For me to take what's mine until the end of time?_

_We were more than friends before the story ends_

_And I will take what's mine, create what God would never design_

-A Little Piece of Heaven by Avenged Sevenfold

_**June 24th, 2001 The Cottage, Wales **_

One of the main problems that arose when you tell a house elf to be quiet until said house elf can learn to speak proper English is that you get a whole lot of silence.

One of the main benefits of that order is that you don't have to listen to a massacre of the English language.

Rodolphus Lestrange was pretty good at looking at the bright side of things and figured that while his only option for conversation was his three year old now, her command of grammar was better than his main house elf, Josephine (He really was not sure how she came about that name. In a world full of Winky's, Dobby's, Binky's and even a Kreature, he had a Josephine. Go figure.). And besides, his three year old was supposed to slur once in awhile.

But he would be honest, even while being optimistic, if he heard the "A B C and 1 2 3" song one more time, he was going to scream.

"Angel, can you please, please, _**please**_ sing something different?" he begged. His little angel looked up at him and beamed.

"Okay, Daddy." she said obediently.

He had meant for her to call him "Father" because that was how purebloods did it but she sounded so cute when she said "Daddy" and he really did like it a lot.

She even looked cute as she began singing "Jingle Bells" at the top of her lungs.

It was June.

They went through an entire round of "Angel, please sing something else", including wonderful songs such as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "Amazing Grace", "Puff the Magic Dragon", "It's a Small World After All" and "Come On, Eileen" (he really wasn't certain where she picked that one up... or any of those really) before they ended up with the "A B C and 1 2 3" song again.

This time, she sang it to the tune of "Come On, Eileen".

To anyone in the world that had never heard of the "A B C and 1 2 3" song, it would sound as though he was just being silly. However, there was something special about this song that made it very annoying.

It only had seven words.

And those seven words were sung over and over again.

And sometimes, late at night, Rodolphus heard them echoing on the wind like a demented banshee's cry. Once, he was certain he did hear a banshee.

She was singing the "A B C and 1 2 3" song.

Incidentally, the title of the song also happened to be the lyrics.

In the year and a half since Rodolphus and his daughter had taken up residence in this house, he had been happy. Not completely blissful, that would have happened if his wife had been at his side, raising their daughter but happy.

But he wasn't so happy that he forgot his plans of revenge.

He didn't just have himself to think about, he had his daughter, too. His beautiful Danielle hadn't seen her mother since she was just a small baby. If not for the Redheaded Harpy, things would be so different. If she just hadn't messed with things. If she had just left his Bella alone.

It was late afternoon when the missive telling him that the next part of his revenge was in place.

Danielle was finishing dinner with a mute elf when Rodolphus found them.

"Angel, we'll be heading to London tomorrow." Rodolphus told her, brushing a lock of black hair from her forehead.

"Okay, Daddy." she said, not looking up.

"What are you doing, Angel?" he frowned. She was bent over her plate, apparently sorting her carrots.

"I don't want to eat the ones that are shaped wrong." she replied.

He stared at her blankly. "What?" he asked finally. This was, apparently, some sort of odd toddler thing.

She held up two carrots.

"This one is right and this one is wrong." she said, frowning. "Gotta separate them."

The carrots looked identical to him.

"I don't understand." he confessed.

She sighed like she was talking to an idiot.

Probably, in her mind, she was.

"They taste funny if they're shaped like this." She held up one. "But if they're shaped like this, there's okay." She held up the other. "Taste!"

He did so.

He couldn't taste the difference.

"I can't tell the difference." he admitted.

"Oh, Daddy." she sighed mournfully.

"Well, um, carry on then." He walked out of the nursery, shaking his head.

Hours later, he examined the carrots. There were a couple left in the Good Pile so he could compare.

It took him over an hour but he finally found a difference. The ones in the good pile were cut so that they were perfectly circular while the ones in the Bad Pile had a slight slant to the cut.

"Huh." He nodded slowly. He supposed that there was a point to what she did.

Even if only a toddler would notice it.

***

_**June 24th, 2001 Dragon Reserve, Romania**_

"What are you doing?" Adela Sandulescu wrinkled her nose and peered at Charlie Weasley's plate.

"These taste weird." he muttered, carefully separating his carrots on his plate.

"I do not understand. They are all the same." Adela looked around at the other keepers for help.

Ciprian Pavlenco waved his hand. "Do not bother asking, Adela. He says that the ones shaped a certain way taste wrong."

"They do." Charlie grunted, lifting one piece and examining it carefully before putting it in the discard pile.

"But there is no difference to them!" Ciprian said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. There is." Charlie scowled at a particularly tricky piece of carrot.

Adela watched a moment longer before shrugging. "Must be an English thing."

"Wait until you see him try to eat beans." Ciprian said cheerfully.

* * *

_**June 25th, 2001 London, England**_

They arrived in Diagon Alley with seven other people. Danielle hid her face against his shoulder and then made a face telling everyone how much she did not enjoy port keys. Then her eyes lit up as she looked around at all the different things that were just made for a small child to grab, play with, chew on and get into.

Like that incredibly interesting potions shop.

Rodolphus made a mental note to hold onto her as tightly as possible.

In the time since the war, things had calmed down enough that he could walk through the alley. His appearance had changed with time and experience so that no one would ever see the man he had been. He was a whole new man.

A whole new man with his delightful little girl.

Of course, once in awhile, his scarred face got some attention but there were many scarred people now. His weren't that bad... although the five straight scars that ran down the left side of his face made people do double takes. He hurt every time he saw that reminder of the last time he had seen his poor Bella awake and alive and fighting. Not the memory of her nails raking down his face... well, that she hadn't recognized him still hurt and having his face clawed certainly was not pleasant, but how he reacted to it.

He forced himself not to remember that.

And she had done him a favor in so many ways with that act. He really wasn't recognizable now. He knew she would be happy to know she had done him a favor like that.

"Daddy..." Danielle breathed in his ear, pulling him back from painful memories. "Look!" He looked in the direction she pointed and saw the wild, flashing and very vivid front of the joke shop those damned blood traitor twins owned. Well. Only one blood traitor twin now since he had read that one had died.

"Very nice, Danielle." he said indulgently. "We have business, remember?"

She twisted in his arms, watching in awe as things exploded and lights flashed and all kinds of things happened in the very, very busy shop.

"Oh, what a beautiful child!" an old woman cried when Rodolphus set Danielle down in front of the bank and straightened the big blue bow in her hair. She smiled shyly at the woman and didn't hide her face. In fact, she preened a bit. Rodolphus smiled proudly.

"What do we say, Danielle?" he asked.

"Thank-you." the little girl replied and took her father's hand.

The business in the bank was long, drawn out and intensely satisfying.

The goblins had found his quarry and made all the arrangements necessary. Yes, it cost an arm and a leg (luckily not literally) but he had done it. Soon, he would be taking care of Unfinished Business. Although, to be honest, he wasn't sure why he had to go all the way to America to do it. It seemed to him that his quarry should have returned here after the war so that he could take care of things at his leisure. He really didn't understand.

He held Danielle's hand as they crossed the Alley, heading toward the bookstore. He had promised her ice cream if she was good and she certainly did deserve it. He just wanted to pick up a couple of travel books and a new story for Danielle.

They were in the middle of the street when there was a loud explosion and people began yelling. As he tried to scoop Danielle into his arms, she was yanked away by a surge of people.

"Daddy!" she screamed.

His heart stopped as he pushed and shoved people out of his way, trying to get where his daughter was. His very small, breakable daughter.

He reached a small alcove and he sagged in relief. His daughter was there, safe and sound...

And in the arms of a redhead.

One of _**those**_ redheads. The one that was so closely connected to Harry Bloody Potter.

"Daddy!" His daughter sobbed and he forgot his fury at the sight of the bastard. She lunged for him and he caught her, kissing her hair and cheeks as he hugged her tight.

"What in the world happened?" Rodolphus blurted.

"Problem down at the apothecary. Looks like some potions got mixed." the redheaded bastard replied. "You okay, sweetheart?" Danielle nodded, her face still pressed against Rodolphus's neck.

"Thank-you." Rodolphus said to the redheaded bastard.

"How old is she?" The redheaded bastard just would not go away! But since he had saved Danielle, Rodolphus would excuse it.

"Three." Rodolphus replied.

"My older brother and his wife have a little girl a little younger than that." The redheaded bastard continued companionably, watching as the crowds calmed and began to thin out.

"Daddy, wanna go to the sparkly store." Danielle said, lifting her face. Rodolphus carefully fixed her bow and kissed her cheek. Right now, he would agree to anything. Who was he kidding? He had a problem telling her no about anything.

"Alright, sweetheart." he said.

"Ice cream?" she continued.

"And then ice cream." Rodolphus smiled. She was a resilient little thing. She'd probably bounce back faster than he would from this!

The redheaded bastard walked with them to the "sparkly store" because Rodolphus learned that he was working there with his brother.

How... nice.

Rodolphus followed Danielle as she moved from one area to the next, staring in wonder at the different things on display.

"They're cute at this age." the redheaded bastard commented. "Everything's so new."

"It is to her." Rodolphus commented. "We don't get to town very often so it's just the two of us." He glanced at the redheaded bastard. "My wife was... lost in the war when Danielle was a baby."

"I'm so sorry." the redheaded bastard said honestly.

"My daughter needs her mother." Rodolphus said, watching him out of the corner of his eye. "I do as well as I can but it's very hard. And I'm afraid that Danielle doesn't get out very often. Not like this."

Danielle was standing in the middle of the store, her eyes wide, slowly turning around and around, just looking. Then, she looked back at her father and beamed, her entire face lighting up with pure, unadulterated joy.

"But I have Danielle." Rodolphus said quietly. "And there's is nothing I wouldn't do for her." He forced a smile for the bastard. "Please excuse me and I do thank-you for your assistance earlier." The bastard seemed to recognize the dismissal and stepped away.

They ate ice cream and then the toy store and then the bookstore. Danielle was asleep in Rodolphus's arms when they finally left. On his arm was a large bag with Danielle's new books and her new toys, too.

Rodolphus smiled down at his little girl. No one would ever take her away from him. She was his little girl forever.

* * *

_**June 25th, 2001 The Burrow**_

Ron was unusually silent at dinner.

"Alright, what's wrong with you?" Ginny demanded finally.

Ron shook his head. "I saw something today that just keeps nagging at me."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, it was when there was that explosion on the alley. I was walking back to the shop when it happened. I saw this little girl almost get trampled by the crowd so I ran over and grabbed her. There was just... how many black haired little girls with one black eye and one blue do you think are born on average?"

"Very few." Hermione said thoughtfully. "Next to none, in fact."

"Well, this little girl, Danielle, she had black hair and one black eye and one blue. Cute little girl. Freckles all over her nose. And the weirdest thing was that I just felt like I should take her home with me." He laughed. "Her father probably wouldn't have appreciated that at all. Said he lost his wife during the war. Looked scared to death when he came running through the crowd. They just got pulled apart and I was amazed that he let her down at all."

"Was that who you were stalking around the store today?" George asked.

"Yeah. There was just something about that kid." Ron shook his head. "I don't know. I'm being stupid."

But the next day, Ron found himself investigating the man and his daughter. It took some time but he finally discovered that the man's name was Randal Montague and he was an accountant. His wife, Isabella, had died in the war at the end and their daughter's name was Danielle Isabella Montague.

Seeing those papers, Ron let it go, simply accepting that he was being silly and any resemblance that Danielle had had to the baby whose picture sat on the mantel at The Burrow was simply a coincidence.

Not that it would have really mattered one way or the other. While he was telling his family about Danielle, she was on her way with her father to America, her stuffed dragon clutched in one hand and her new book in the other.

***

_**August 2, 2002 New Orleans, Louisiana **_

The girl had a beautiful voice. There was no denying that. Her appearance matched her voice, too. In fact, Danielle would have loudly proclaimed that she looked like a princess.

Randal was unimpressed by princesses. In fact, he found them rather boring.

But he had to admit that she did look like one with long red curls and big green eyes.

Randal reclined in his seat in the club and sipped his drink, watching as the girl sang her heart out to a club full of plebeians.

When she was finished, he watched as she stepped off stage, nodding to people when they spoke to her and attempting to walk in absurdly high heels. He pushed himself to his feet and approached the princess.

"You're wasting your time here." he said without preamble. She blinked in surprise and her lips parted slightly. It made her look even more lovely. "Your dress is patched in a two places that I can see, your shoes are worn and not your correct size. You are nervous around people who are drinking and, to be perfectly blunt, you are not taking advantage of your talent. Oh. And you have a piece of carrot in your hair." She blushed and batted at the carrot dangling from one curl.

"Who are you?" she asked, confusion in her voice and on her face. She looked charmingly befuddled.

"Randal Montague. I'm the man that is going to get you out of this place." he replied.

"Listen, I don't know what you think you're going to get but I can assure you that I am not the kind of girl that will just believe someone that promises to get her out and is willing to do- do _**things**_ in return." Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes flashed angrily. Apparently, the princess had claws.

Fascinating.

He looked her up and down with no small amount of disdain. "Madam, I assure you that I am not interested in any of the things you could _**possibly**_ offer me. All I am interested in is your voice." He pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to her. "Honestly, you are just one of thousands of pretty girls with a pretty voice. I am bored and think it would be interesting to make you something more but if you are not interested then I will simply find someone else." She accepted the card with a dazed expression. "Think about it and the contact me at the address on the card. Now, if you will excuse me, I have left my daughter with a babysitter and it makes me very nervous to leave her for very long. Good evening." He turned and began walking away.

"You're not very nice." she called after him.

"And you still have carrot in your hair." he smiled. "Have a nice evening."

He was not surprised when she sent him a message the next morning asking him to meet her for coffee.

As soon as he had sent a message confirming the meeting, he contacted an old family friend that was now involved in the recording industry. An old family friend that had plenty of reason to cooperate and, more importantly, not say a word about who he used to be.

Over lunch, they came to an agreement that he would make damned sure that anyone that Randal sent to him was recorded.

"I can't make them a success if they're awful." he reminded Randal.

Randal waved a hand. "The girl is good and will make us a fortune. Trust me."

"Not a chance." his friend shot back. "But I'll do what I can for her."

Randal hesitated. "Have you heard anything about my brother?"

His friend was quiet. "He's in Azkaban again." Randal nodded slowly. "You're considered dead. I think some people are still looking for you but the public believes that you're dead."

Randal looked up with cold eyes. "See that it stays that way."

That night, he reread his files on the girl. Audrina Winterbourne. Married Fredrick Weasley in September of 1997 when it was discovered that the little princess was pregnant. Sole surviving member of a pure blood family that opposed Voldemort one time too many. Went to school in France and, most interesting of all, was one of those obnoxious creatures that changed their appearances at will. A metamorphmagus. Although it seemed Audrina was rather fond of her natural looks and rarely changed them. She was eighteen years old when her daughter, Fredricka, was born and one month later, both mother and child were shipped off to America for their own safety. Apparently it was decided that the princess had used up all her luck with two escapes from Death Eaters.

Randal knew that he was to blame for the fact that princess was singing in a club in worn clothing and shoes. He needed her to be destitute and desperate. And, apparently, she was now. All it had taken was a few clever purchases of debts and a couple of goblins that were more than willing to help out and Audrina Winterbourne was destitute.

He had learned from watching her that Audrina had almost no survival skills. She had gone from her parents taking care of her to her husband's care. Now that she was on her own, she was proving to be utterly dreadful at it.

He had to wonder if that Redheaded Bastard had been attracted to her beauty and abilities and whether or not it would have lasted if he had lasted. He also wondered why they had not come to collect her yet. It had been years and surely they knew that the two of them existed. It boggled the mind.

Or perhaps they just didn't like her very much. But wouldn't they at least care that the child was in such dire straights. At least, he presumed that they were in dire straights.

He knew this for certain when she showed up with her child in tow and looking like she hadn't slept in a long while.

Randal eyed the pair critically. Both were wearing secondhand garments but at least they appeared clean. The little girl was redheaded and freckled. She had long hair that was pulled into two braids and was wearing a purple sundress and trainers. Audrina was wearing a sundress and a pair of sandals. The little girl kept stopping to look at things and point while Audrina dragged her along.

"Who are they, Daddy?" Danielle whispered. He had brought her along today so that Audrina wouldn't feel threatened. Nothing was threatening about a man with a little girl. In contrast to the worn pair coming toward him, Danielle was wearing shiny sandals with a buckle, a pretty blue dress and her hair was tied back with a large blue bow. She was sitting at the table with the napkin over her lap, sipping a milkshake from a glass that was almost as big as her face.

"They are someone Daddy may be doing business with." he replied, smoothing her hair.

"Oh." She continued to study the little girl with a fascinated, almost longing, expression on her face and Randal realized that Danielle had never been around other children before. Randal stood as they approached.

"Mr. Montague." Audrina managed a smile for him. "Thank-you for meeting us."

"Hi! I'm Fred!" the little girl chirped. "Who are you?" She looked directly at Danielle.

"Danielle." She tilted her head and studied the other girl.

"Mum, may I have some ice cream?" Fred turned her attention to her mother. Audrina flushed.

"Oh, Fred, I don't think-" she began and then stopped. "Remember what I said at the flat?"

Fred deflated. "Okay, Mum."

"You can have some of mine." Danielle offered shyly. "If you'd like." Fred brightened again and looked at her mother. She managed another smile and nodded.

The two little girls dove into the milkshake, chatting with each other as if they had been friends forever, all shyness forgotten. Randal looked at Audrina.

"Am I to assume that you have decided to accept my proposal?" he asked. Audrina took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes, Mr. Montague. What do I need to do?" She looked up him with wide, innocent eyes.

He smiled back, a very toothy predator's smile.

"You just sing. Leave everything else to me."

A month later, Audrina Winterbourne recorded her first album.

Three days after Audrina's first album was completed, Danielle seemed rather... mopey. This was not something that Randal felt himself equipped to handle since she was rarely in this state. It was moments like this that he regretted leaving the elves in Wales. But moving them to another country was such a bother! Licensing and taxes and attention that he did not want... much easier to just hire someone here.

"What in the world is the matter, Danielle. That is the fourth time you've sighed since we sat down to eat." he said as she poked dejectedly at her food.

She looked up at him with troubled eyes. "Daddy, Fred's babysitter got shot. With a gun."

Randal blinked. "What do you want me to do about it? Buy the girl body armor?"

Danielle sighed heavily. "She got shot in Fred's building. And Fred says that sort of thing happens a lot. She's scared in her building." She looked up at him with huge, sad eyes. "Daddy, Fred's my best friend. My only friend. I don't want her to get shot."

Randal was quiet for the rest of dinner. He wanted his revenge but he wouldn't get it if the princess and her child were killed in their own home.

After Danielle had gone into the living room to watch a movie, Randal called the babysitting service he used and requested that they send someone immediately. Then he called for a car. Thirty minutes later, he was headed to Audrina's address.

He had never been here before and, he had to admit, he was not impressed. Gangs of people stood on the corners, women dressed in next to nothing called invitations and when he was getting out of his car, he heard gunshots.

The building smelled unpleasant to say the least. His lips twisted when he stepped over a sleeping man in the hallway and dodged a used hypodermic.

Audrina's door was old and scuffed. One of the numbers for her address was missing and it was painted a color that he was pretty sure started out as green but was now an odd olive color.

It took a moment for anyone to answer his knock but when the door finally opened, it was only a crack. Audrina peered out, her eyes wide and frightened, from beneath a chain lock.

"Randal?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Let me inside, woman. This hallway smells." The door closed and then reopened. Audrina blinked a couple of times, her hands clutching the edges of her robe. Randal moved past her and looked around the apartment.

It was a lesson in poverty.

The couch was a gold color that had probably been popular in the 1960's or 70's, There were cigarette burns on the cushions and random stains that made him cringe.

The carpet was just as bad. Odd stains, cigarette burns, and worn spots graced the green shag.

He saw crayoned pictures coating the pea green refrigerator and a pair of mismatched chairs sat at a cheap, lopsided table that had a coat of peeling, silver tape that was apparently holding one leg together.

There were two doors leading away from the rest of the apartment. He saw a shower curtain peeking out of one and Fred peeking from the other. He strode to the bathroom and turned on the light. It was white, or it was supposed to be white. The tile was broken and cracked. The bathtub was stained. The toilet was running and, although it was scrubbed as clean as possible, he could smell mildew. The faucet was dripping and the sink had a line of rust at the edges.

"Why is Randal in our flat, Mum?" Fred whispered.

"I-I don't know, sweetheart." Audrina whispered back. "Randal? What's going on?"

He pushed past them and opened the door that Fred had been peeking from. It was a bedroom with one bed. Clothing was hanging in an open closet and on one wall, a few pictures hung. Some personal items were placed on shelves and it was very, very obvious that the two shared this room.

Randal turned. "Pack your things." he said. "Immediately."

"W-what?" Audrina was hugging Fred to her. They didn't look like mother and daughter; they looked like sisters.

"You are not staying here." Randal marched into the bedroom and pulled two suitcases from the closet. He pulled his wand out, cast a couple of charms and then started directing clothing into the suitcases. "Your babysitter was shot?"

"Her boyfriend shot her because she left him." Audrina agreed. "But where are you thinking that we'll go, Randal? This is all I can afford!"

"I have a large house." Randal finished packing their clothing and started moving other things into the other suitcase. "There are two unoccupied bedrooms." He turned, sensing that Audrina was about to argue. "For your child if nothing else. Do you want _**her**_ to get shot next time? Or what happens when she steps on one of those hypodermics that litter your hallway? Or what happens when someone breaks in while she's here? You are not staying here, Audrina."

Ten minutes later, the three walked from the building. The driver put the two suitcases into the trunk and then opened the door for them. Fred and Audrina were still in their pajamas.

Danielle was asleep on the couch in the living room, a Disney Movie playing on the large television that Randal had purchased when they moved in. The babysitter, an older woman that looked incredibly motherly sat knitting in the chair beside the couch.

"How did everything go?" Randal asked, hanging his jacket in the closet in the foyer.

"Just fine, Mr. Montague." the woman began putting her knitting away. "There's never any problem with Danielle. She fell asleep waiting for you to come back." Randal lifted his daughter from the couch, making sure to grab her stuffed dragon. She snuggled against his shoulder and sighed in contentment. One eye, the black one, opened.

"Everything alright, Daddy?" she asked.

He kissed her forehead. "It's fine, Angel." He glanced back at Audrina and Fred. They were pressed together, looking around the room with wide eyes. "Fred can share Danielle's room tonight. We will get her a room of her own tomorrow. Come along."

When both girls were tucked into the purple and white canopy bed, Randal walked back downstairs to pay the babysitter. As soon as she was gone, he turned to look at Audrina. She was standing there in her pajamas and slippers. He snorted a little. Her pajamas were pink and covered with little yellow crowns.

"Alright, Princess. You're probably tired, too." he said. "Come along. I'll show you to your room. I have magic here as well as Muggle technology. Since I saw that you had a few Muggle appliances, I trust that I will not have to teach you to use those items. If you have a problem with any of them, please let me know, Princess."

"Why do you call me that?" she asked, following him up the stairs. He paused and looked pointedly at her pajamas then turned and continued to walk.

"I'm not going to sleep with you." she blurted.

He stopped and turned to look at her.

"Princess, I told you once and I shall tell you again, you have nothing that entices me. All I want from you is your voice." He opened a door and pointed. "This is your room. Mine is over there. Kindly refrain from entering mine unless the house is on fire and I need to leave." He hesitated. "And even then, I would rather you yelled through the door."

"You do these nice things and then you act so mean." she blurted as he walked away.

He snorted. "Nothing I do is nice. You are of no use to me dead and since I am all that you have in this city, I would no doubt end up raising your child. I have no interest in doing so." He paused. "And we will be getting you and Fred some new clothing tomorrow. Please be dressed and ready to go by 10 o'clock."

"I don't need your charity!" she stamped her foot. "And don't order me about like I'm a child!"

"I beg to differ, Princess." he sniffed. "You do, in fact, need my charity and, quite bluntly, I will stop treating you like a child when you stop acting like one." He arched his eyebrows. "So get used to being treated like a child."

Before she could formulate a reply through her stammering fury, he entered his room and closed the door.

"I am not a child!" she wailed finally. He smiled when he heard her door slam.

The next morning, Danielle greeted him with a hug and a huge kiss on the cheek.

"You're the best Daddy in the world!" she cried.

"Only the best for my angel." he replied, smiling.

Fred and Audrina hung back slightly, watching him.

"You're late." Audrina finally sniffed.

Randal smiled pleasantly. "And good morning to you as well, Audrina. You look quite nice even without an outfit with crowns on it. Perhaps later you can put on something with cartoon animals?" Fred and Danielle giggled. Audrina scowled at him and he turned his attention to the girls. "Have you two had breakfast yet?"

"Yes, Daddy!" Danielle beamed. "Aunty Audrina made us eggs!"

He smiled fondly. "Good. Are we ready to go?"

Replacing the secondhand clothing the two had been wearing was tiresome. Audrina's pride was now warring with her desire to outfit her child in better clothing. Randal finally got tired of it and just started piling items on the counter.

"Randal! No!" Audrina tried to block him with her body. Randal stepped around her and put another stack of shirts on counter.

"Audrina, if you are not with us, then you are against us and I will lock you in a changing room until we are finished." He looked toward where the girls were watching him. "Ladies, would you please go pick out some new undergarments?" They darted away. "And socks!" he called after them.

The girls came back five minutes later with stacks of ruffled panties and matching socks. Danielle beamed at him.

"No showing off your knickers to everyone we meet, Danielle." Randal sighed.

Danielle scowled. "But they're so pretty, Daddy!"

Audrina and Randal both rolled their eyes.

Randal took the same approach with Audrina in the shops that carried her clothing as he had in the girl's stores. He sat her down in a chair and put things on the counter.

"Can we go pick out Mum's knickers, too?" Fred asked, clapping her hands. Randal grinned wickedly.

"Be my guests, ladies." The two girls raced away. Randal glanced at Audrina and lifted his eyebrows. "Do I need to lecture you on why you may not show your pretty new knickers to everyone we meet or can you control yourself?"

She glared at him. "I really don't think that I like you today, Randal. And I thought that you weren't interested in my knickers!"

"No, I am not interested in what is **_in_** your knickers. I am concerned about the _**state**_ of your knickers. There is a big difference." Randal glanced at his watch as he spoke.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Audrina asked. "You've been watching the time all day. Do you have plans tonight?"

"We all do." Randal replied cryptically.

That evening, after dinner, Randal herded the three females into the living room.

"Sit down." he ordered Audrina. "And for once, do not speak, Princess."

She glared but did as he ordered. Randal flipped on the radio and turned it to a modern rock station. A song ended and the DJ came on.

"And here's a new song from a witch I think we'll be hearing a lot of." The intro began. "This is 'Kiss Me Crazy' from Audrina Winterbourne!"

Danielle and Fred squealed and clapped their hands as Audrina's voice filled the room. Randal smiled, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Audrina stared open mouthed at the radio.

"That's- that's me!" she breathed. "Oh my God! That's me!" She jumped to her feet, pointing to the radio. "That's _**me**_!"

"Your powers of observation are astounding." Randal smirked.

Audrina shrieked, grabbed both the girls' hands and began hopping up and down. "That's me! I'm on the radio!"

Randal just smiled and watched as the three of them danced around the living room, squealing, laughing and singing along.

That week, Audrina's first album went on the Wizarding Charts.


	2. Chapter 2

_**September 12th, 2003 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

They had taken over his house.

There were toys in the living room. There were... girly things in the bathroom. He wasn't even sure what half of them were but he had learned that if he decided to bathe in any bathroom other than the one attached to his bedroom, never, ever use the shampoo. It reeked of flowers and made his hair... fluffy. (She claimed it just had added body but he wasn't blind or stupid. It was fluffy.) And he did not want to discuss the time he decided to use her body wash.

Audrina had made enough money to afford her own house just from the sales of her first album. Her second had been released that very day and was already looking like it would surpass the first.

They had celebrated with a nice dinner of pizza and take-out Chinese.

Randal's suggestion that they have anything but pizza and take-out Chinese had been ignored and he found himself eating General's Chicken and watching as the girls played a board game and Audrina sat in a chair with her knees pulled to her chest, staring out the window.

After the girls went to bed, Randal brought Audrina a glass of wine.

"Would you... like to talk about it?" He winced in anticipation.

She shook her head but took the wine.

Randal knew what her problem was but telling her that he knew that it was the anniversary of her marriage to one of the Redheaded Bastards.

Randal had learned that she was unable to speak of him. Ever. For any reason. This had fascinated him because he realized when he bombarded her with questions, she would turn a shade of purple that he had never seen before (but had used as inspiration for a particularly lovely dress he had made for her), seem to start choking on her tongue (the first time had alarmed him and he had believed that she was having a seizure) and sometimes get a nosebleed (he did not like that at all and spent 20 minutes holding her head back until it stopped). If she tried to write his name, her hand shook so uncontrollably that all that came to the paper were scribbles. And trying to pluck the name from her head resulted in both of them having headaches.

Whatever they had done, they had either done a very good job on or they had completely messed up.

Randal had, however, learned to read Audrina. On September 12th and May 2nd, she got a bit weepy but never this bad. So he brought the entire bottle of wine into the living room, poured himself a glass, got a book and sat down to wait for her to make the first move.

Half a bottle of wine later, she did.

"It's my anniversary."

"Oh?" He didn't even look up.

"And all day, I've been thinking that I am actually accomplishing something but he's not here to see it." Her chin wobbled. "He didn't love me like I loved him and his family hated me and his sister called me a useless twit that couldn't managed to walk and chew gum at the same time and I miss him so damned much!" She ended on a wail and threw herself at him.

Sadly, when she threw herself at him he was (1) not prepared (2) not looking (3) holding his wine glass (4) had a mouthful of wine (5) and had just readjusted himself so that his legs were not crossed which meant that (1) his crotch was not guarded (2) he was still in the motion of uncrossing so he was unsettled.

All of these things resulted in a calamitous moment of total and complete chaos.

Audrina slammed into him, jamming her knee into his groin. He gasped, inhaling wine. He choked and sprayed wine all over Audrina. The force of her hitting him through him backwards and the couch fell over so that their feet were sticking straight up in their air.

Audrina, dripping in wine and sobbing like a child, clutched Randal's shirt. Randal moaned in pain and tried to grab the injured part of his anatomy.

"Woman. You. Are. A. _**Menace**_!" he groaned.

Audrina just continued to sob and clutch at him.

"I _**can**_ walk and chew gum at the same time!" she wailed. "I _**can**_!"

He fought the urge to start sobbing along with her.

It was another thirty minutes before Randal managed to remove Audrina from him and then get himself off the floor. He groaned, truly feeling his age and almost wishing himself back to Azkaban, and limped to the sidebar. There, he poured himself a drink, downed it and then poured another one. Audrina was seated on the floor beside the fallen couch, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

He glowered at her.

She sniffled at him.

"Audrina, go take a shower and then we will talk." he ground out. "You are covered in wine and are dripping on the carpet."

Once she was gone and he heard the shower going, Randal doubled over, holding his crotch.

"Ah God." he moaned. "Damn that woman and her indescribably sharp knees!"

He grabbed the ice bucket from the bar and sank into his chair, holding the ice bucket in his lap. He sighed in relief and let his head roll back, closing his eyes.

"Daddy?" He jumped, opened his eyes and yanked the ice bucket away. Danielle stood in the doorway, her stuffed dragon clutched in her hand and her eyes bleary.

"Yes, Angel." he said, clearing his throat.

"Aunt Audrina's crying in the bathroom. She woke us up. She's really, really loud." Randal cursed.

"Alright, Angel. I'll take care of it." he promised. She nodded and trudged back to her room.

Randal walked into Audrina's room and knocked on her bathroom door. He could hear her wailing away in there. "Audrina, let me in." He knocked again and tried the doorknob. It was locked.

"Audrina! Open this door!" he yelled.

She continued to wail. He cursed again, pulled out his wand and unlocked the door. He glanced back over his shoulder. Danielle and Fred were watching from Danielle's bedroom.

"Go back to bed, girls." he ordered. Then, he took a deep breath, prayed for strength and entered the bathroom.

Audrina was seated in the floor of her shower, sobbing for all she was worth. While she cried, her hair changed colors. Red to blond to brown to green to blond again to purple to black and back again to restart the cycle. He shook his head to clear it and walked to the shower.

"Audrina, you woke up the girls." he advised her.

She tried. She really did try but she just kept sobbing. When Audrina cried (and she cried for any number of reasons that were too numerous to count but did include sad movies, sad books, a Lost Dog notice on a tree and because she was very happy) she did not cry in a sweet, feminine manner. No. Audrina sobbed and wailed. Her cheeks got blotchy, her nose ran like a sieve, her eyes almost swelled shut and her hair always, somehow, ended up plastered to her wet, blotchy cheeks. And she did all of these things unapologetically and for as long as she felt the urge.

Sighing impatiently, Randal grabbed a towel from the bar, turned off the water and, wrapping Audrina in the towel, scooped her up. He walked to her bed, sat down on the edge and, holding her on his lap, started rocking back and forth like he had when Danielle had nightmares.

When she finally stopped crying, she looked up at him with her swollen but yet somehow wide, innocent eyes. At the moment, they were very, very dark and her hair was even darker.

"I don't want to be alone tonight." she whispered.

"Fine. Get dressed and you can go sleep in the room with the girls. They are probably asleep again by now and Fred was in there with Danielle." he shrugged.

She shook her head. "No. I want to be with an adult tonight." She tilted her face toward his. "I want to be with you."

A voice in his head demanded to know what the hell she was doing but he was frozen as she pressed her lips to his.

He was many things but a man was one of those things and right now, he had a gorgeous, naked witch on his lap that was pressing against him, kissing him.

Something was buzzing in his head. Something loud and insistent. He groaned and pulled the witch closer to him. The buzzing grew louder and he could hear a voice under it; a voice telling him not to stop, to do this.

And he could remember his revenge. He could remember it and knew that this was it. He had started it when he ruined her. He had continued it when she became dependent on him. He was the reason she had clothing. He was the reason she had food and a roof over her head. He was the reason that she could care for her child. The reason that she no longer had to work long nights at a seedy club. He was the one that she depended on.

And now, she would be his whore. Already, she was begging him. He could do anything to her and she... she would let him.

She would beg for more.

One of the redheaded bastards' widows would be his whore. She depended on him. Their child depended on him.

He could use her and then leave her in a worse state than she was before. She and the brat. He could destroy them both.

Randal ripped his lips from hers.

"No!" he pushed her off his lap, onto the bed. She stared up at him with those wide, innocent eyes as he pushed himself to his feet and went to her dresser.

"Randal..." she began and then stopped, biting her lip. He pulled a nightgown from the drawer and walked back to the bed. He quickly pulled it over her head and then pulled her arms through the sleeves. She let him, blinking in confusion. A lock of hair fell over her forehead. He pushed it away and caught her face in his hands.

"I am _**not**_ your husband." he said, his voice harsh. "And you are _**not**_ my wife. You do _**not**_ love me and I do _**not**_ love you. And I am _**not**_ doing this."

The buzzing began to quiet.

"But Randal... I can be." she said, her voice cracking. "I can make myself look like anyone you want. I will. I don't mind. Just-just don't leave me. I can't be alone tonight. I can't!" She grabbed at him. "I can make myself look like her and- and I can close my eyes and pretend that you're him and that way, for one night, we can have who we want! Just don't leave me!"

He closed his eyes and breathed slowly. "Audrina, if we do this, someday, you will hate yourself. And so will I." He sat down beside her, forcing his breathing to remain slow and controlled. Then, surprising even himself, he reached out and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him.

"Please just stay in here with me tonight." she said, her eyes on the floor. "Just to sleep, okay?"

He nodded.

That night, as the two slept beside one another, gaining comfort through the knowledge that they weren't alone in the dark, Audrina's song "Forget Me" went to number one on the Wizarding Charts.

* * *

_**November 16th, 2003 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

"What in the world are you two doing?" Audrina asked, blowing on her hands to warm them as she stood on the back porch, watching her daughter and Danielle climbing the fence. Danielle reached the top first and held her hand out to Fred to pull her up.

"Watching the new neighbors, Mum." Fred replied, perching next to her friend.

"That's rude, girls." Audrina said, shifting her bare feet. "And are you sure you're warm enough?"

"We're fine, Aunt Audi." Danielle told her. "And they're watching us, too, so it's okay."

Sure enough, a pair of brunette boys popped up, face-to-face with the girls.

"Hi!" one chirped.

"Hi!" Danielle replied, smiling.

"I'm Jason and this is Brandon." the boy said happily. "We're twins. Who are you?"

"I'm Fred and this is Danielle." Fred replied. "That's cool! I wish I had a twin!"

Audrina made a choking noise.

"Are you alright, Mum?" Fred asked, glancing back.

"Fine, dear." Audrina smiled at her and began backing into the house. Randal looked up from his newspaper.

"Problems, Princess?" he asked, reaching for his coffee.

"The girls are spying on the neighbors." she reported, watching from the French Doors.

"Yes, I heard that we were getting new neighbors." Randal sipped his coffee. "Some Quidditch players and their families bought the houses around us. It's gotten quite a following these days."

"Mmm." Audrina leaned against the door. "Not surprising. Enough Europeans came over to start anew. It stands to reason that they would want their sports. And you know the Americans. They just seem to enjoy sports." She made a face. "Especially if someone can get hurt."

"That's human nature, Audrina." Randal told her. "What is that charming shirt I saw in town the other day? Ah, yes. 'It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Eye... and Then It's Frikkin Hilarious'." He shook his head. "That shirt sums up human nature."

"You're such a cynic, Randal." Audrina sniffed.

"I'm a realist, Princess." Randal really did not feel up to doing this so early in the morning.

Audrina snorted and pointed a well manicured finger in his direction. "What you are is cranky."

"So the girls are spying on the neighbors?" Randal went back to his paper.

"Yes." Audrina glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "It's alright, the neighbors are spying back."

Randal snorted.

"Yes, when I came back inside, the girls were talking to two little boys. Twins, they said. Brandon and Jason." She waited.

"I hear that the real estate in Atlanta has become quite nice." Randal said finally. "And they have homes that don't have neighbor boys because they don't have neighbors."

Audrina hid her smile by turning back around. "They're just little boys, Randal."

"Little boys turn into teenagers." Randal said darkly. "And teenagers get... funny ideas. They should all be locked away."

"Until when?" Audrina was having a hard time not laughing.

"At least until my daughter is safely ensconced in a convent... or an all-girl university."

Audrina burst out laughing. "God, Randal! You are going to have to eventually let her go, you know that don't you?"

He lowered the paper and glared at her. "Never."

The door burst open. "Daddy! Brandon and Jason are going to come play!" Danielle announced. The twin boys had successfully climbed the fence and were now heading inside after Fred and Danielle. Without waiting for an answer, the four raced toward Danielle and Fred's bedrooms.

"Did you see that?" Randal slapped his paper down.

"See what?" Audrina asked.

"They managed to climb that fence in no time flat and immediately ran into our house like they owned it and went straight for the girls' bedrooms!" He stood.

"What are you doing?" Audrina asked, chewing the inside of her mouth.

"Something I should have done as soon as I moved in." Randal replied, striding toward his office. "I'm having barbed wire installed on the top of the fence... and a moat... with alligators."

Audrina couldn't answer him; she was too busy falling to the floor, laughing.

It took some work but Audrina managed to keep Randal from actually turning their home into a compound but she did almost lose the battle when she heard the girls and their new friends heading out again.

"We're going to go play now! Goodbye!" Fred called as they left.

Randal marched to the window and glared out it.

"I think they're a bit young to be leading the girls into a life of debauchery." Audrina observed.

Randal grunted. "Boys are never too young. And those girls are sweet, innocent and naive."

Half an hour later, the two girls marched back inside with their noses in the air. Danielle's bow was hanging haphazardly from her hair, Fred's coat was torn.

"See?! See?!" Randal yelled, leaping up. "It's already started! They're already coming home with their clothing half torn off!"

"What happened?" Audrina asked in a much calmer voice.

"Stupid Tommy Harris and his wretched little snail of a friend, Scott, started teasing our new friends." Fred explained.

"And then they started teasing Fred about her name." Danielle added.

"Said it was a boy's name." Fred scowled.

"And they made poor Clarice cry." Danielle frowned. "She's our new friend, too."

"And Brandon and Jason didn't know what to do." Fred continued.

"So we had to do something." Danielle huffed.

"What did you do?" Audrina asked, her eyes worried.

"Made _**them**_ cry." The girls said together. With that pronouncement, the girls linked arms and started up the stairs. "We're just going to change clothes and then we're going back. Clarice's dad is going to give us ice cream!" Fred called.

"But it's cold!" Audrina called after them.

"So?" They called in unison.

A door closed and Randal doubled over laughing.

"Oh yes. They are _**so**_ sweet and innocent." Audrina rolled her eyes. "That Harris brat is two years older than them, Randal!"

Randal just kept laughing.

He wasn't laughing when he came home the next day to find three little boys sitting across from his daughter, Fred and a blond girl.

They were all about the same age.

And were discussing brooms and Quidditch. Apparently, all of these children's parents played on the team and they had already discussed the two players that weren't related to them.

"Daddy! I _**need**_ a broom!" Danielle cried, whirling. "What do I have to do to get one?"

"We'll discuss it." Randal replied warily, eyeing the children.

"Randal, this is Clarice." The blond girl smiled sweetly. "This is Brandon." One brunette waved. "Jason." The other brunette waved. "And P.L." the black haired boy smiled hesitantly. "This is Randal Montague, Danni's dad." Fred beamed as she finished her introductions.

"I'm Danni now, Daddy." Danielle said sweetly. "Danielle is just too big a name."

Randal turned on his heel and walked away.

Audrina was reading a fashion magazine at the kitchen table.

"We're moving to Atlanta." He turned and walked away.

Audrina's laughter followed him as he stalked to his room. He had to research the best brooms for his daughter.

* * *

_**November 23rd, 2003 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Audrina dropped a plate when she saw him.

He dropped his broom.

Randal rolled his eyes.

Ah. Young love.

How... disturbing.

"H-hello." Audrina stammered and then noticed the broken plate. "Oh, blast!" She knelt and began picking up the pieces. He knelt as well.

"Hello. I'm Peter Delainy." he smiled at her. She blushed as their hands made contact.

"I'm Audrina Winterbourne." she managed to say without tripping over her own tongue.

"Fred's mum, yeah?" he smiled at her. He looked as flustered as she was.

"Yeah." she breathed and then blushed harder. "I'm Fred's mum. And you're Clarice's dad."

"And I'm going over there as soon as the two of you can get out of my way." Randal interjected. "Honestly. There are children present and the two of you are already looking like you're about to break into a song worthy of some horrid Disney monstrosity."

"This is Randal. Ignore him. I usually do." Audrina broke from her spell and scowled at her manager. He rolled his eyes again and stepped over them. He paused, glanced back and pointed his wand at the mess. All the shards immediately gathered together in front of them.

"Why's Mum acting like she's going to start singing some stupid Disney Song?" Fred asked him when he joined the new neighbors, his daughter and Fred at the table.

"I believe that she was dropped on her head a few times as a child." he replied serenely.

"Mr. Montague, excuse my rudeness but are you and Audrina... together?" Nadine Dumas asked carefully. Her son, P.L. was actually one of the better behaved ones in the mob of children that had decided his house was their house. Nadine played Keeper on the Quidditch team that had formed in New Orleans while her husband, Marcel and a man named Henry played as Beaters.

"She is my client." Randal replied calmly. "We are not romantically involved."

"Oh." Charlene Hastings said. "I'm sorry but we had just wondered." Charlene played Chaser on the team with another woman named Dianne Jennings and her husband, David.

"Randal saved Mum and I from abject squalor and poverty." Fred chirped.

"Her babysitter got shot. Domestic dispute." Danielle, or Danni as she insisted that they call her now, nodded sagely.

"He came and got us in the middle of the night and brought us here. The next day, he bought us new clothes because he said that our clothes were not even worth the effort it took to pack them." Fred continued blithely. "Because Mum was no good to him dead and since he was all she had and he had no faith in the foster care system, he would end up raising me and he had absolutely no interest in doing so. So it was in his best interest to just move us in."

"Eat your peas." Randal ordered the girl. She smiled brightly and did as ordered. Danielle looked at Clarice.

"Your Dad looks like a prince but my dad acts like one." Then, she continued to sort her carrots into two piles. "A really, really snarky prince." she added, scowling at one carrot whose cut had, apparently offended her before passing it down to one of the dozens of cats that lurked around their back garden in hopes of a meal.

Randal responded by shoving a roll in her mouth.

In the doorway, true love was blooming in all it's glory.

And Randal secretly felt a bit pleased.

* * *

_**Christmas Eve, 2003 The Burrow**_

Coming here had been a mistake.

Charlie accepted that fifteen minutes after he got here. Surrounded by his happy, exuberant family with their growing families had been a bloody awful idea.

And then it got worse when he saw the mantle and the small altar his mother had set up there. Well. To be fair, it really wasn't an altar. It was just that Fred's picture was pushed out further than usual, his wide smile and laughing eyes seemed more evident for some reason and right next to it was a picture that his mother must have gotten from Valentine Larkin. Mia in her black leather jacket held Fiona up for the camera, helping the infant wave one chubby arm before she hugged her tight and beamed.

Charlie was now feeling a bit less than festive.

But he smiled and he was good old Charlie for everyone.

After everyone went to bed, he came back downstairs and opened a bottle of a very nice liquor Tom had sent him. He poured a glass and smirked after the first sip. This was nothing. It actually tasted a bit like juice.

He passed out on the second glass.

In his dream, he was walking through a field of tall grass toward a cliff. A small figure was seated on a rock, her back to him. He sat down next to her and looked over. Mia was peeling a pomegranate. She held out a jewel-like seed on her fingertip.

"Want a bite?" she asked, her pretty eyes sparkling at him. He leaned over and took her fingertip in his mouth. She laughed lightly and, taking her hand back, continued peeling.

"Everything's so wrong now, Mia." Charlie said after watching her for a moment.

"Yes." she agreed.

"I miss you." he continued.

"I miss you, too." She looked at him through her hair and then went back to the fruit.

"It's actually a berry." she commented. He blinked. "The pomegranate. It's actually a berry. I read that somewhere." She held out another seed. He took it in the same manner as before. "And they are all through mythology. Persephone ate six seeds and had to live in the Underworld for half the year." She fed him another seed.

"What do I do, Mia?" he asked plaintively.

She shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know. I think that's really something that you have to decide for yourself." She fed him another seed. "But I do wish you would live."

"How do I do that exactly?" he asked and accepted a fifth seed from her.

"Hmmm." she pursed her lips and began removing a sixth seed. "I assume you just want a suggestion?"

"For a start." he agreed, taking the next seed.

"Go out and be around people." she handed him a seventh as soon as he had eaten the sixth. "Go to a concert. Go to a festival. Been awhile since you saw a Quidditch game." She fed him an eighth seed. "Oh hell, go over to the states and go to Mardi Gras!" She fed him a ninth.

Charlie chuckled. "And what about work?"

"There's more to life than work, Charlie Weasley." She scolded and fed him a tenth seed. "And you are still alive. Stay that way. Do you hear me?"

"I hear you." She leaned over and kissed him. "No more seeds?" he asked.

"Ten is enough for now. Nine and one just in case." she replied and kissed him again. She pulled back just a bit, her nose still brushing his. "You have to open your eyes, Charlie Weasley. It's all staring you right in the face but you aren't looking for it so you don't see it. Open your eyes, Charlie."

He opened his eyes and she was gone. Standing in front of him was his brother, Fred. He was tossing a pomegranate from hand to hand and grinning. Charlie eyed the pomegranate suspiciously.

"Not really keen on eating pomegranate seeds from your fingertips, Fred." he said and Fred laughed.

"Not really keen on feeding them to you that way, big brother." He tossed the pomegranate to him. Charlie caught it and eyed it.

"What's with the pomegranates?" he asked.

Fred shrugged and smiled. "It's your dream."

"Are you taking care of my girls?" Charlie had to ask.

Fred shook his head. "Not where I am. But I think your Mia can take care of herself quite nicely. You know, that last night aside. But she was working at a disadvantage there. He had her baby."

Charlie grunted and tossed the pomegranate back.

"Nah, that's yours." Fred smiled. "Not mine." He studied his brother a moment. "But I will say this. Smart girl, your Mia. If she was anything like what your mind conjured up. Go have some fun. Concerts are always good. Mardi Gras is supposedly a lot of fun. Go have fun, big brother. If you stay in Romania, you'll never see things that are right in front of your face."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Charlie demanded. Fred smirked.

"It means open your eyes."

Charlie's eyes popped open and he immediately yelped. Three of his brothers were staring down at him.

"Oh good. I was worried we would have to explain to the children why Uncle Charlie's comatose body was left alongside the gifts." Bill drawled.

Charlie sat up, wincing. "That drink of Tom's packed a wallop. I had two glasses and feel like I've worked my way through a case of fire whiskey."

George's eyes widened a little when he saw the bottle. "Dragon's Breath? You drank two glasses of this?" He leaned close to his older brother. "Can you see me?" he inquired in a loud, slow voice. Charlie growled and knocked him aside.

"I need a shower." he muttered and made his way upstairs.

That evening, Charlie shocked his entire family by nonchalantly agreeing to go along to see some singer that had gone to school with Fleur in Paris. He had been sorting his green beans into two piles: a pile that were not shaped weird that he would eat and a pile that were shaped weird that he would get rid of.

"It may be fun." he shrugged. He looked around at everyone, taking in their shocked looks.

"What?" he frowned.

"Nothing." Hermione said. Everyone nodded.

"It's just..." Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "You haven't agreed to do something like this in years."

"In fact, you usually run off back to Romania as soon as the holidays are over." Bill added.

Charlie scowled at them. "Well, if you would rather I did that..."

"No! We're delighted that you're going! We're just surprised is all." Ginny hurried to add.

"Alright then. Can we drop it, please?" Everyone jumped into discussions about the upcoming plans, who would be going where and doing what and so on and so forth.

Charlie just hoped he wasn't making a huge mistake.

* * *

_**New Years Eve 2003 Paris, France**_

Danielle and Fred yelled and clapped excitedly from backstage as Audrina performed. Randal watched her with no small amount of pride.

The girl he had first seen singing in a seedy club with perhaps 15 people in the audience was now commanding the attention of well over a thousand in a packed venue in Paris.

She ended her final song, throwing her head back and punching the air with one small fist as fireworks exploded overhead.

"Go, Mum!" Fred bellowed.

"Yeah, Auntie Audi!" Danielle shrieked.

Audrina turned toward them, an exuberant smile on her flushed, damp face. She turned back to the crowd.

"I want to take a moment to thank the reason that I am here tonight." she said in perfect French. "I was living in a horrible one bedroom apartment in the worst part of New Orleans. People were killed in the hallway. I barely had money to feed my daughter and my only pair of shoes had a hole in them. He swept in like a force of nature and changed our lives. Saved them. He brought us to a nice house and let us live there with him. He bought us clothing, food and everything we could have wanted or needed. And, best of all, he gave me a bedroom that I didn't share with my daughter." Many people in the crowd laughed. Audrina looked back to the wings. "Thank-you, Randal. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart." She looked ready to cry. "Come out here and say something!"

He shook his head.

"Girls, bring Randal out here!" Audrina called. The audience began chanting his name. Randal mouthed a threat. "He's shy." Audrina told the audience. "And he's plotting to do something simply awful to me later for this." Randal mouthed another threat. Audrina's eyes got wide. "My, that is nasty. Such language!"

Danielle planted her back against her father's legs while Fred planted her hands against the small of his back. Both began shoving him toward the stage.

Once he was centered, both girls straightened and waved at the audience.

"My darlings." Audrina beamed, kissing both the girl's cheeks. "Everyone, meet Fred and Danni. Say hello, girls."

Danni took the microphone and both girls said in unison, "Hello, everyone!"

Earlier in the week, Danni had announced to her father that he had to do something about her eyes.

"People always stare and it makes me uncomfortable." she said. "Can I just have eyes like you, please?"

And so, Randal had very carefully cast a glamour charm on his daughter so that now, instead of one bluish gray eye and one black eye, she had a pair of dark eyes. Fred had copied her eye color so that now she had her mother's auburn hair and Randal's dark eyes. They looked like sisters now.

Randal had rolled his own dark eyes and known that the media would have a field day with this.

Audrina took the microphone back. "Randal, thank-you for all you've done." He grunted. Tears filled her eyes. "I love you for what you've done for us." He glowered. "Say something?"

He took the microphone. "I am going to do horrible things to you for doing this to me." he advised her. There was laughter from the audience. "I mean it this time, Princess."

But part of him was smiling as he resorted to carrying the girls off the stage and Audrina began singing an encore. He just ignored the fact that both girls were beaming and waving behind his back as they walked away.

* * *

_**New Years Eve 2003 Paris, France**_

"What darling little girls!" Fleur cried. "They are so cute!"

"Adorable." the men all said in unison.

In reality, they looked rather like little girl shaped blurs. It was impossible to actually see their features from that distance. All you could really tell was that one had dark hair and one had red hair.

"Are they twins?" Ron whispered, squinting.

"I have no clue." Bill whispered back.

On stage, the two little girls had run back out and were currently leading the crowd in the New Year's Countdown. The scarred man that had been introduced as Randal came out as well and, as the fireworks exploded overhead and music played, he lifted both girls up high and they kissed his cheeks. The singer, Audrina, kissed all of their cheeks.

"I have the oddest urge to go backstage and apologize to this singer." Ginny commented in a confused voice.

"Yeah, I don't know why but I really want to go talk to her." George nodded. Angelina looked at him, her eyebrows arching. "Not like that!" he hurried to say. "I don't know what I want to say but I just want to go talk to her."

"She was at our wedding." Fleur said casually. "I remember her there but I-" She shook her head. "Ah well. I am glad that she is doing so well. She was always very sweet and very kind but she didn't, how shall I say this? She was very gentle and her feelings were so easily hurt. She was always the one the younger girls went to when they first came to school." Fleur chuckled. "The only time I ever saw her ready to fight was when someone was picking on one of her little foundlings. She would go from kitten to dragon when someone was cruel to someone smaller and weaker." She squinted at the stage. "I really cannot see her very well but she looks happy, yes?"

"I think so." Bill replied. She was certainly a very happy looking blur.

Charlie chuckled, watching the black haired one wiggle down and dart to the front of the stage.

"Happy New Year!" she cried, waving. The other child joined her and the two began singing some American song, dancing with each other. The audience, charmed, began singing as well.

She was a cute little thing, Charlie admitted to himself. Maybe this hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

The next morning, the papers showed two adorable little girls singing and dancing on stage. Some intrepid reporter, minus his camera, had managed to get close enough to ask the girls if they wanted to be singers like Audrina. Danielle had lifted her chin, beamed and announced that singing was fun but she was going to be a Dragon Keeper.

And the Wizarding World fell in love with two little girls from America.

* * *

_**April 14th, 2004 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Peter Delainy was an idiot.

Randal contemplated this as he watched the buffoon with the children in the backyard. For some reason, someone had decided that instead of simply installing gates between all of the yards, the best way to keep the children from having to go out onto the street, where paparazzi liked to hunt, or climbing the fences, which had resulted in Brandon having a broken arm, was to tear them all down and create one large backyard. Since the backyards were not that large to begin with, at least now they had a nice sized backyard.

Randal had been admonished to stop calling the backyard a garden so that he sounded "more American".

"But I'm British." he replied indignantly.

"But you live in America and are now an American." Nadine chided.

"I never said I was an American!" Randal yelped.

He hadn't actually thought about it but it made him feel odd to think of giving up his nationality.

"Randal, you refuse to set foot in Britain." David Hastings said, rolling his eyes. "You flat-out refuse."

"So do Audrina and Peter." Randal retorted.

"But they don't argue about being Americans now and they call the backyard a backyard." Marcel Dumas sighed.

Randal cast a nasty look at Audrina. "Traitor." he hissed.

She kissed his cheek. "Don't be a brat, Randal. Just call the bloody thing a yard and be done with it. Honestly!"

And so, Randal found himself no longer sitting in a tiny garden but a large backyard when he decided he wanted to have his tea or coffee on the patio in the morning.

Or when he wanted to make certain that his daughter wasn't going to plaster herself against something. There were no two ways about it: his daughter had a death wish when on a broom.

The child was fearless.

The Buffoon's daughter, Clarice, clearly was not interested all that much in Quidditch but seemed determined to play to make her father happy. It was also clear that she was determined to be as good as possible to make him happy. It was all for naught in some ways since her talents appeared to be as a Keeper instead of a Seeker like her father. Randal had been annoyed enough to intervene and advise her that there was no law that said she had to be a copy of her father and that she should just be happy. She should decide what she truly wanted and go after it. It was her life and she was the one that would have to live it.

This had resulted in him being hugged enthusiastically by the child who had whispered that what she really wanted was to be an actress like her grandmother had been. Randal had patted her on the head and told her that he had no doubt she would be an excellent actress.

And he may have promised to do what he could to support her... but he refused to admit that to anyone else without a lot of prompting.

The twin boys, Brandon and Jason, seemed decent enough as Chasers. Brandon was the brainier of the two and Randal found that he genuinely liked the boy. He was constantly writing little stories that were just damned funny. He had actually written Randal his own story for Christmas and Randal kept it in his desk drawer. It had just been so... so... funny!

No one had told Fred that she was too small to be a Beater. Not until she had gotten a taste for knocking the every loving hell out of things with her bat. By that time, it was just too late. She was a terror in the air. She was a terror on land, too. Especially since she did so love her bat. Randal had realized that instead of sleeping with a doll, like Clarice did or a stuffed animal as Danielle did, Fred fell asleep curled around her bat.

Her partner in the game was, surprisingly, the quiet and steady Pierre Louis Dumas, or P.L. as the boy insisted on being called. Randal couldn't blame him. If his parents had saddled him with such a... soft name, he would have gone by his initials, too. As quiet as Fred was loud, as steady and calm as she was chaotic and excitable, P.L. tempered her in ways that no one else had ever managed. And was a perfect match for her in the sky. Together, they were just downright nasty.

And then there was his Danielle. His sweet, innocent, darling little girl.

She had a talent for the Seeker position that was almost unreal. And no one had bothered to actually convince her that she was a sweet, innocent, darling little girl, either. Flanked by Fred and P.L., she could be counted on to dart all over the pitch, diving and rolling and catching the Snitch more than any 6 year old should be able to. She would get a determined look on her face, lean low over her broom and off she would go. Randal had almost had a heart attack the first time she just suddenly flew straight at the ground, pulling up at the last second. She had tossed her braid over her shoulder, beamed for the spectators and held the Snitch over her head.

Audrina had patted him on the back and encouraged him to just breathe.

On the occasions that she fell off her broom, she would hop right back on as soon as they were done patching her up. And they had to patch her up a lot. Much more than Randal would have liked.

Now, he was watching as Delainy gushed over his daughter's skills as his own daughter dug the toe of her trainers into the grass with a defeated look on his face.

It was bad enough that Audrina sighed and hummed after an evening out with him and looked at him as if the sun shone from his every orifice. And it was intolerable that they were calling him the Prince of the Pitch. But he was making his daughter miserable and causing his daughter potential problems when the little blond began resenting the other child.

Randal stalked out to the yard and put his hands on Danielle's shoulders. She looked up at him gratefully. Apparently Delainy's fawning made her uncomfortable.

"Danielle, go get snacks." he said quietly. She nodded and, with a yelled invitation to the others, darted away. Randal pretended not to notice the seven cats that emerged from the shrubs and chased after her. Peter started to walk away but Randal stopped him with a hand to the chest.

"Stop fawning over my child and worry about your own." he said quietly. Peter blinked.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

"My problem is that your daughter looked ready to cry this afternoon. She played an amazingly good game and you ignored her to gush, instead, over my child. You are lucky to have that child and need to pay attention to her." Randal sniffed. "Prince of the Pitch and Village Idiot rolled into one. How lucky we are." With that, he turned and walked away.

"That was very nice of you, Randal." Randal glanced toward the source of the quiet comment. Nadine Dumas fell into step with him. "Peter should be ashamed for how he behaves with Clarice sometimes. She tries so hard for his approval but never gets it. She's too much like her mother."

"It seems that he would like that." Randal said.

Nadine sighed. "Peter and Jade weren't together when she was killed. They lived in separate homes. It was pure luck that Clarice was with Peter that weekend or she would have died, too. Peter likes being handsome and famous. Sometimes, he forgets that he's a father first." She smiled a little. "Something you've never had an issue with."

Randal didn't bother to reply. He just watched the Buffoon and thought.

That night, Peter looked up in surprise when the door opened and then closed. Randal had already viewed him with some disdain. He lived in an apartment over Nadine and Marcel's garage with his daughter. He didn't even live inside!

"Randal, what do you want?" Peter asked, frowning.

Randal smiled. Peter shuddered. Randal rolled up his sleeves and Peter's sharp intake of breath was beautiful. It was even nicer when he scrambled for his wand and Randal had simply summoned it to his hand. Then, Peter could no longer move or speak. He lay, stiff and powerless on the couch, watching the man glide closer and closer to him.

"We're going to have a little chat, you and I." Randal purred, tapping the wands against his palm. "And you are going to listen to me or you are going to find out what kind of man gets this," He indicated the mark on his arm. "_**and**_ survives marriage to Bellatrix Lestrange."

Two hours later, an Obliviated and Memory Charmed Peter Delainy was asleep on the couch. Randal had not been able to resist letting someone know his secret. Even if he had taken the memory away, at least for a few moments, someone had known who he had once been.

It had been fun.

And it hadn't been too hard to simply remove a few memories and plant a few more so that Peter felt the need to actually want to be a father. It wasn't for the girl, really, it was so that his Danielle didn't lose a friend.

At least, that was what he told himself.

The next day, Randal smiled when Peter clapped and swung his daughter around when she played particularly well.

"You did great, love!" he crowed. She looked startled but pleased. A shy smile graced her features.

"I think Danni is right." a now familiar voice said quietly. Randal didn't even bother to look at Nadine. "Peter looks like a prince but you act like one."

Randal looked at her. In his mind, suddenly, he saw a small broken body lying at his feet. Blood covered her, trickling from her mouth and nose, her ribs obviously crushed, bones protruding from her skin and tears slid from her eyes to cut through the blood on her cheeks as she begged for the life of her baby. He saw a dark child with green eyes gazing dully up at him while blood coursed down her arms. He saw a couple screaming and screaming and screaming until there was nothing human left in their eyes. He saw a kaleidoscope of images of his past in a flash.

He shuddered and ignored the stinging in his eyes and the buzzing in his head. He looked away from Nadine.

"I am not a prince. I am also not a good person. Do not make that mistake, Nadine."

He turned and walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

_I own nothing and get nothing for this. _

_I do apologize for any mistakes or oddities in this. A very old and dear friend of mine died and I'm afraid that I am not at my best at the moment. So I am sorry if something seems off. _

_**December 24th, 2004 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

"Peter asked me to marry him."

Randal stared for a moment at the pale, fidgeting woman before him and tried to find the right words to say to her.

"Congratulations?" he tried.

Her eyes filled with tears and her lips trembled as they turned up in a slightly bitter smile.

"I should have known that would be your response." she said.

"I'm no exactly sure what you want from me, Audrina." Randal said very slowly. He had been reading before bed when she knocked on his door. He had pulled on a shirt and opened his bedroom door to find Audrina standing there in a pretty nightgown and no shoes. Now, they stood in his doorway, staring at one another.

She shook her head. "I know you don't, Randal. You're a genius, yeah? Math and all that, not a problem. Spells and fixing things and taking over people's lives, not a problem to you. But simple human emotions leave you at a loss. I don't know why I'm surprised."

Randal didn't respond, just continued to stare at her.

"I haven't answered him yet." she continued, waving one hand. "Is there any reason I should say no?"

Randal could think of a few million, most of them revolving around the fact that the man was an idiot but was pretty sure that these were not reasons she wanted. Another one was that she couldn't let that man take her away from them. He opened his mouth but she started again.

"Silly me. That would mean you were experiencing emotions. Silly, silly me." She scoffed. "Randal Montague doesn't have emotions like the rest of us! Silly, _**silly**_ me!" She waved her hand as she spoke and, as she ended her tirade, her hand smacked him in the nose.

Something in him snapped with that flash of pain and explosion of color. He grabbed her shoulders and dragged her into his room, closing the door behind him.

"You think I don't feel emotions?" he sneered. "Is that what you think? Let me tell you something, Audrina, I feel more than enough emotions! I feel so many emotions that I don't know how to handle them all! I can't control them sometimes and when I can't control them, people get hurt! People die! And I do not forget that!" He pushed his hand through his hair. "How can I forget something like that? I have a reminder every time I look at my daughter and know that I am the reason that her mother isn't here with us!" He sneered at the look of shocked horror on Audrina's face. "That's right, Audrina. I lost control. I lost control and my magic went out of control and she is not here with us. You say I'm good at fixing things? Well, I couldn't fix that! I tried! Circe! I tried! I tried and I tried and I **_still_** try to this very night but I can't fix the spell! I cannot find the right bloody spell and bring her home to us!

"And now, I look at my daughter when she watches you and Fred and I see that longing in her face and I know that it is my fault! And the guilt is too much for me to bear!" He slammed his hand into a stack of books sitting on his dresser, sending them crashing onto the floor. "The answer isn't in here! I know my mother had the spell and it's counter but I can't make it work for me and I can't fix it! I know I know the spell! I **_did_** the spell but I can't remember how to end it! And I remember all of the other things I have done in my life and I can't fix them either! I hear their voices at night, begging me, pleading with me and I can't fix it! I can't undo the past and I can't fix the damage that I have done and it kills me!"

A vase on a side table exploded. Audrina cried out and threw a hand up to shield her face as the mirror erupted.

"I lose control of my emotions and I destroy! I do nothing but destroy!" Randal bellowed. A buzzing noise in his head was all he could hear as red bled across his sight, blinding him.

And then, it was over. He stood in the middle of the room, panting. Audrina cowered at his feet, covering her head with her arms. In the doorway, Fred stood with wide eyes, covering her mouth with one hand, tears pouring down her cheeks. And on the floor, half under his dresser, Danni lay with a thin line of blood trickling from a gash in her forehead.

"Oh God!" Randal raced to his daughter, memories of his past superimposed over his reality. A thin, wavering voice was pleading with him to not hurt her baby as he shoved the dresser off Danni and began checking for damage.

"We heard you yelling." sniffled Fred, hugging herself. "We heard you yelling and got scared."

Audrina knelt beside him, her wand out. "Let me." she said in a surprisingly strong voice. "Randal, get out of the way." Randal leaned back as she cast healing charms on his daughter. Danni's eyes opened and she blinked.

"Daddy?" she asked. He pulled her to him, kissing her hair.

It didn't take long for them to get the girls cleaned up. As they tucked them back into bed, Randal whispered a memory charm, removing the memory of the night from both of them. Audrina was unaware as she lingered in the doorway, her eyes fixed on something he couldn't see.

"Audrina?" he asked, closing the door to the bedroom where the girls slept. "Are you alright?" She reached out and pushed his tattered sleeve up his arm and swallowed convulsively. He looked down at the faded mark on his arm and then back at her.

"You were one of them." she said, her voice unsteady. "I saw it when you were... in your room, I saw it. I thought I was imagining things. You were one of the ones that killed my family. My husband."

"I wasn't there." he said.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice very quiet.

"Randal Montague." he said stubbornly.

"Who _**were**_ you then?" she asked in that same tone.

"Rodolphus Lestrange." He didn't want to answer her but couldn't stop himself. He had to know how she would react. She nodded slowly.

"And you killed Danni's mother." she continued. "Is she even your daughter? Because I read that someone else killed Bellatrix Lestrange and that she never had a child." He felt that familiar pain at her words.

"I found her again." Randal studied her. Her head was lowered and she was looking at the floor. "I found her and our daughter. It was an accident."

"You found her." Audrina nodded again. "You found a woman and her child and believed it was your wife. You killed the woman and took her child." This logic was actually rather amazing for Audrina, Randal had to admit. Incorrect but amazing. "You have to give her back. Back to her family."

"I'm her family." Randal snarled. The buzz was returning. "She is my daughter."

"You stole her." Audrina snapped. "She has family, she must. Her _**real**_ father!"

"I _**am**_ her real father! She is mine!" Randal snapped back. "We changed our names but I didn't change that! She is my daughter! And yes. I was a Death Eater! I regret it but I was! I thought I believed it! I thought we were preserving our way of life! I followed my wife and I did horrible things but I am not the same as I was!" He could barely hear through the noise in his ears. He fought against it. He focused on the bent head of the woman before him. "Audrina, I am the same man I was when you saw me earlier. I am the man that helped you put gifts under the tree tonight. I am still me."

She looked up at him, her eyes blazing.

"You were one of them!" she snarled. "You murderer! You bastard!" She flew at him, pounding her fists against his chest. "I trusted you! You bastard!" Randal caught her hands in one of his. She twisted, snarling and hissing in fury. "I hate you!"

The words hurt more than he thought possible.

And he saw his family being ripped away from him.

She looked up at him, her eyes still blazing. "You'll kill me then?" she demanded. "And then what? Take my daughter, too?"

"That's an option." he agreed, his voice cold.

"Why? Why have you done all of this?" she asked, her hands becoming limp in his larger one. "Why did you find Fred and me and bring us here and all the other things that you've done? Why?"

"Revenge." he sneered at her. "I know who you married, Audrina. I know who Fred's father is. Was. I know." Her face paled. "And I know what that son of bitch's mother did to my Bella. And I found you. I followed you to where you were living in England but you were already gone. And I followed you here. The old woman wrote down where you were going." He shook his head, clearing the white noise for a moment. "I never planned to kill you, Audrina. I never..." He looked at her. "I can't let you take my daughter from me, Audrina and I know you will. Don't deny it. I see it in your eyes. You think that if you escape tonight, you'll bundle the girls off and hide them from me. You'll find a way to hide from me. I won't let you take my Danielle. She's _**mine**_!" He lifted his wand with his free hand. "And Audrina, you're mine, too. You and Fred... you're family now. And family, Princess, stays together." Her eyes were wide as he knocked her out.

He cleaned himself and his room up quickly and then straightened her appearance as well before carrying her to his room and sitting her in a chair. He closed his eyes, breathed deep and then exhaled slowly. The noise had retreated again. He felt safe once more.

He studied the witch before him and then tucked a lock of auburn hair behind her ear.

"We're family now." he told her softly and gently, kissing her forehead and then, "Obliviate."

Ten minutes later, he whispered the spell to awaken her. She blinked and lifted her hand to her head. Then, she looked at him.

"I-I'm sorry, Randal. I must have been very tired." she said, blinking a few times. "You were... I was..." She frowned, confused. "What were we talking about?"

"I was telling you that Peter is an idiot but you seem fond of him." Randal said, his face composed and his voice dry. "And I was also saying that it would be ridiculous for you to stay in the area above a garage. There is not room for four of you."

"You're right." She nodded and then looked at him. "We should just stay here."

He blinked a few times. "I didn't say that now." He had actually not thought about it yet. He had figured that he would have time to think up something suitable.

She beamed at him. "But it's perfect! There's plenty of room and it's not like there are any places near here for sale. We would have to leave and I don't want to do that!" She laughed lightly. "Heavens, Randal! We're family and family stays together!" She saw the blank look on his face and laughed again. "Oh, suck it up, you great silly! I think it's a lovely idea! I'll tell Peter tomorrow! Oh, Randal! It will be lovely! I just know it!" She stood and smiled even wider. "And this way, we don't have to separate the silverware!" She kissed his cheek and danced from the room.

Randal frowned. "But it's all _**my**_ silverware!" he called after her.

The only response was the closing door.

He blinked a few times. This was not what he had planned at all.

A small smile curved his lips. But he wasn't losing his family.

* * *

_**January 1st, 2005 Cork, Ireland**_

Under normal circumstances, when a dragon had to be transported across borders, different governments were alerted and then the dragon was moved via magical means. Dragon keepers worked with the dragon to keep it on the correct path and, when it all came down to it, the dragon moved of its own accord. Obliviators were on hand to keep things secret and spells were used to disguise the entire affair.

However, that was not happening this time.

Charlie should have known that he shouldn't have answered that floo call the day after Christmas. Valentine Larkin did not usually get up and mobile before 8 in the morning and she most certainly did not usually have a strained, worried tone in her voice. She called him at 6:30 in the morning and had both tones in her voice. And, to be perfectly honest, she had never looked so... roughed up.

He also knew he should have gone back to his bed and hidden when she explained what they were going to do and what was currently secured in their back garden.

Somehow, somewhere, Jack Larkin had gotten his hands on a young Hungarian Horntail and they had to move the blasted thing to Romania.

And they wanted him to help.

Charlie had yet to get the story of how they came to have a dangerous animal in their back garden but he did know that it was young, it was injured and the shock of moving from place to place via magic would probably kill it. Charlie suspected that whoever had possessed the dragon before the Larkin family had probably abused it. It was even more distrustful of humans than a normal dragon and that, combined with their magical limitations, would make moving the dragon next to impossible.

Charlie should have known that the Larkin's would have a plan.

He also should have known that their plan would be something he would not enjoy. But, to be fair, it was one of the best options available to them.

They were going to ship the dragon, which one of the Larkin Children had dubbed Sparky, like they did other items that they shipped on a regular basis.

"Does someone actually know how to drive this thing?" Charlie asked, eyeing the lorry parked at the warehouses and office of Larkin Shipping. He and Jack were getting the last few bits of paperwork done in the warehouse.

"Of course." Jack said cheerfully. "Val and I can both drive. We're teaching the kids, too, as they get old enough." He hesitated. "But not on this trip."

"Jack!" Valentine's... dulcet tones ripped through the semi-quiet of the warehouse like a very sharp knife through paper. Both men flinched at the anger in her voice. "Why does my business seem eerily similar to a circus?"

Jack perked up. "The Kelley's made it?"

"Well, yes, but that is not what I mean!" Valentine stalked toward him. "Jack, we agreed that this was going to be a quiet venture! Quiet!" She pointed a finger toward the outside. "It is most certainly _**not**_ quiet out there!"

Charlie moved to the door and peered out. There were dozens of people outside that did not belong to the party that would be transporting Sparky.

"Jack, Sparky is dangerous." Valentine was trying to explain to her husband. "For God's sake, he nearly toasted me this morning! Those pants will never be the same again!"

"Would I get in trouble for telling you that it just means you literally have a smokin' ass?" Jack grinned at her.

"Without a doubt." Valentine replied in a deadpan voice.

"I won't then." Jack didn't stop grinning. Charlie turned away to hide his smile. It wasn't enough though. Valentine seemed to sense amusement because she whirled toward him and lifted one finger in warning before turning back to her husband.

"You shouldn't have invited more people!" Valentine continued. "It's been hard enough to keep our horde away from him and now there are far too many people out there without the sense God gave a turnip!"

Charlie had been impressed by the way that Valentine had managed to keep her children away from the dragon. Especially since the woman had four children she had given birth to and eight they had adopted after the way. It was an odd mix and match of children, too. With her four dark haired and dark eyed children, they also had a girl with dark blue eyes and reddish brown hair, a trio consisting of two boys and a girl with deep red hair and violet eyes, an Indian girl and boy with green eyes and identical twin blond girls with huge blue eyes. And be damned if they didn't all act like they had been siblings for their entire lives!

"And are we done then or would you two like to stand around giggling like schoolgirls a bit more?" she demanded.

Charlie grinned. "We're about done, Val. No worries."

She grumbled under her breath for a moment. "Easy for you to say. I'm the one that has to talk to the bloody bureaucrats." The real reason for her bad mood was abundantly clear with that bit of information. Charlie patted her shoulder.

"We're ready, Val." he soothed. "And we can get out of here as soon as we get everyone loaded up." Valentine nodded briskly.

"Right then. Charlie, Daniel Kelley wants to see you, to say hello." she stomped toward the men carefully loading the dragon onto a lorry. "And someone get rid of the damned reporters! Jack! Tell me you didn't invite them!"

"I won't then, dear!" he called after her. He grinned at Charlie. "It'll be fun!"

Charlie watched the shaking crate and found that he couldn't quite manage a smile. "Fun. Yeah."

A week later, he _**really**_ couldn't quite manage a smile.

Valentine was not the only one that had managed to get the seat of her pants scorched and even Jack had stopped grinning. Charlie's suspicions that the dragon had been treated cruelly was confirmed from one of the Larkin children. He had caught the small redheaded girl seated at the very edge of the boundaries that Valentine had set, reading a story to the dozing dragon.

"He has nightmares." the little girl had said. "So I read to him so he won't be scared." She sighed sadly. "He has to know that not every person is going to try to hurt him or be mean. Otherwise, he'll be maladjusted."

Charlie had not understood why they had brought all of their children with them at first but it became evident after the first night when not one but three of them woke up screaming and would only let their parents near them. The Larkin's had already had four children when they adopted 8 war orphans. Charlie was almost certain that this confirmed their insanity.

"I know you wondered why we brought them with us. We wouldn't have. This is no place for children and we know it. But you have to understand, no one else wanted them. Not even to watch for a few days." Jack whispered to him as they sat at the campfire watching Valentine soothing a little girl with long brown curls. "They said there was something... wrong with all of them. They're just little kids, you know? How could we not take them? There were more but we found people that understood what had happened to them and wanted them."

Charlie looked over at the tent where small heads were peeking out from time to time, watching their sister.

"What happened to them?" he found himself asking.

Jack looked toward his wife, a sad look on his face. "Different things. That's Sheridan. Her father was under the imperious and killed all her siblings and would have killed Sheridan if her older brother hadn't hidden her. She was the baby. Her mother came home and dueled him. He'd just killed her children. She may have loved him but she was dueling to kill. Took him out, it seems but bled out from some cutting spells. Neighbors came over after they heard the noise and found Sheridan hiding under a couch in shock." He looked down. "Her family was all there. She saw at least some of it. She certainly saw her parents go."

Charlie didn't know what to say.

Jack smiled sadly. "And Sheridan's not the worst. In fact, her story's one of the easier ones to handle." He studied Charlie. "We don't tell their stories usually because people treat them differently." Charlie didn't hesitate. He was too curious. He handed Jack a flask and waited.

"You're trying to get me drunk." Jack accused. Charlie smiled. Jack rolled his eyes.

"It all rolls down to this. Those kids all paid a price for their parents." Jack explained. "The blonds, Alessa and Madeline, their mum had a gift that Voldemort wanted. She wouldn't share so they tortured their father into insanity and then that bastard lost his temper and killed the mother. The two girls were hiding in a hall closet and saw it all. It was a week before anyone came and found them.

"The redheads come from a family that crossed those buggers. Their da's older brother was one of the Death Eaters and one thing led to another and they got a target on their heads. The two elder ones, Noelle and Henri, managed to save themselves and Sebastien, the youngest, by nailing the buggers with pots and pans until they could get themselves out of the house." Charlie blinked. "Yes, they threw pots and pans and whatever else they could get their hands on and then ran like hell for the neighbors while screaming their heads off. Noelle had a massive moment of accidental magic and blasted a couple backwards and I think Henri did, too.

"James and Arianna..." Jack stopped. Charlie frowned, leaning closer. The Indian girl with bright green eyes was usually found sitting quietly somewhere with a book in her lap. She didn't run around and play with the other children but Charlie had noticed that the brown haired girl, Sheridan, kept an eye on her, coaxing her to where the others were and sometimes steering her when she read while walking. The child seemed absent minded to him but thought that was just her nature. And the boy, James, seemed quiet and reserved. He would sit with the children and sometimes play but seemed like he just wanted to be left alone. He had scars on his arms, face and throat but something told Charlie that was not the reason for his reserved behavior.

"Arianna is a special case and no one knew what to do with her." Jack said, his usually cheerful voice was hushed and mournful. "There was talk of institutionalizing her."

"Why?" Charlie whispered back. Jack sighed and poked at the fire with a stick. "Their parents... they were Death Eaters. Don't know what all they were hiding but they used Memory Charms on her. A lot. They weren't very good at it and it affected her short term memory. Poor love can remember a book she read two months ago with total clarity but can't remember if she's had breakfast most days. Hell, she can recite a book she read months ago with perfect clarity. And James... you don't touch him without his permission and even then, I don't advise you to go giving him a big hug.

"Are their parents in prison?" Charlie asked.

Jack shook his head. "No. They tried to leave the bastard." Charlie winced. "We don't know what exactly happened but some muggles found Arianna crouching on the side of a road, covered in blood, clutching a book to her chest, rocking back and forth, muttering some sort of chant under her breath. When they tried to touch her, she would... react badly. Some of our people managed to get to her and they eventually found the rest of the family. James was barely alive and the parents..." Jack swallowed. "I've seen some awful things but what was done to those people..." He stared at the flames a moment before shaking himself and looking back at Charlie.

"They're just children. All of them. We hope that they'll be able to have normal lives someday. But even if they don't, we'll always be here for them."

Valentine rejoined them, sitting down heavily. But for all her exhaustion, there was a hopeful look in her eyes. "Breakthrough." she announced softly.

"What?" Jack sat up straight.

"When I got Sheridan back into the tent, Arianna crawled over to her, lay down beside her and started singing her a lullaby." Valentine's smile was brighter than a star. "She was trying to comfort her!"

Jack reached over and grabbed his wife's hand tight. "See? They'll be okay, love."

Charlie stared at the flames, feeling as if he was intruding.

The next day, they reached the reserve. Charlie was relieved to hand over responsibility to one of the others. As he watched the keepers taking Sparky to an area that he could settle in, he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down into a pair of blue eyes. It was one of the identical twins, either Alessa or Madeline.

"Mr. Weasley?" she said in a very soft, whispery voice. He leaned down to hear her properly. "I have to tell you something."

"What, sweetheart?" he asked.

She leaned so that her mouth was next to his ear and, to his surprise, her voice dropped even more. "You'll be happy again." she whispered. "When she comes home, you'll be happy. You just have to hold on until then." Then, she kissed his cheek and skipped away.

Charlie watched her rejoin the others. That evening, before the Larkin's continued on to Italy to visit Valentine's sister and her children, Charlie caught her.

"Val, I don't want to pry but the twins, Alessa and Madeline?" he hesitated. Valentine sighed.

"One of them told you something that seemed odd?" she asked. At Charlie's nod, she shrugged. "Best listen then."

"Why?" Charlie asked.

"Well, they come from a long line of Seers." Valentine smiled, a sad look in her eyes. "That was what Voldemort wanted their mother for." Charlie frowned. "And before you ask how a Seer didn't see Voldemort coming, I will tell you what Madeline told me: She was a Seer, not a Magic 8 Ball. You don't get to choose when a Seer gets a vision or what it's about. You just roll with it when it happens." She hugged Charlie. "I'll be seeing you, Charlie."

"Valentine!" She turned and cocked her head inquisitively. "How did you get Sparky?"

Valentine grinned at him, her dual colored eyes sparkling mischievously. For a moment, she looked as young as her children. "We stole him, of course." He gaped at her as she started to walk away.

"You did get the kids through legal means, right?" he called after her.

His only answer was her laughter and a wave as she rounded up her children and husband and prepared to head to Italy to see her sister and her family.

Charlie waved half-heartedly at them all and then, retreated to his area.

He needed a drink.

* * *

_**August 29th, 2005 Venice, Italy**_

Audrina threw her arms around Randal, tears streaking down her face.

Randal groaned. He had started an Anger Management Class after the fiasco at Christmas and right now seemed like a good idea to start his breathing exercises. He had a feeling that Audrina was about to push him to his breaking point.

"Do stop the histrionics, Audrina and tell me what the problem is so that I can fix it and we can make use of this incredibly expensive and difficult to reserve venue that you insisted that you needed for your wedding."

"My Father isn't here!" Audrina sobbed.

"Yes, I do believe that you once mentioned that he was deceased." Randal agreed carefully.

"And I don't know if I should do this!" she continued.

"Because your father is deceased?" Randal frowned.

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean, I don't know and I'm scared!" she continued to sob.

Randal allowed her to sob for a few more minutes before he moved to a side table, with her still clinging to him, and pulled a vial of calming draught from his robes. He poured her a glass of champagne, poured the draught in and handed it to her. He had been expecting to need at least one dose of the draught today. Although the others didn't seem to realize it, there was a hurricane coming directly at their home. He couldn't remember the name of it for sure but he was pretty sure it was some name that started with a "Kat" sound.

He was pretty sure this wouldn't end well and when it did, he was certain that someone would need to calm down quickly.

"Drink." he ordered. She sniffled and did as ordered. The affect was almost instantaneous. She stopped crying and sat down on the small chair in front of the vanity, her skirts fluffing up around her. She peered up at him with impossibly large eyes.

Randal sighed and handed her a handkerchief.

"Randal, you always take care of me. Take care of all of us, really." she said, dabbing at her eyes and then cheeks. "You gave us a place to live and you fed us and clothed us and..." She bit her lip.

"Spit it out, Princess." Randal ordered.

"Will you walk me down the aisle?" she whispered. "My Father can't be here but you're-"

"If you say a substitute for your father, I am leaving."

"No! No! You're, well, you're my best friend. You're mean and you're moody and you can be very unpleasant but you are my best friend."

Randal stared at her, mouth agape. In all his plans and plots, this had never crossed his mind. Not even once.

And the worse part was that he realized she was his best friend, too.

He nodded slowly. "Alright, Princess. I'll walk you down the aisle."

An hour after the ceremony, Randal looked down at the couple spinning slowly in one another's arms. Peter Delainy looked like a prince and Audrina a princess. They were perfectly happy. So very happy.

He looked down at the cell phone in his hand with its text message from one of his business associates.

"Do not come home. Don't know if the levees will hold."

He swallowed hard, his eyes going to his... his family. They were all looking at him, noting the look on his face. Audrina was nibbling her lower lip, Peter's brow was furrowed, all of them crowded closer and closer to each other, confused children looking to their savior. To him. Danielle cocked her head to one side, a trusting smile on her lips. She trusted that he would make it better. He always made everything better.

Randal swallowed hard once more, the weight of their world on his shoulders and then pasted a smile on his face. She was his best friend and she deserved one more evening of happiness. Time enough to know what was going on later.

Two days later, the entire family sat in total silence, staring in horror at the images on the television screen.

The levees had not held.

"Dad? Do we have a house?" Brandon asked, his eyes clouded.

David put his arm around him. "It doesn't matter, son. We're together and we're alive. Houses can be replaced."

Randal didn't say anything. He just stared at image after image and started to plan.

* * *

_**September 17th, 2005 Atlanta, Georgia**_

Randal, David and Marcel paused in the driveway of the rental house that Nadine, Marcel and P.L. had been living in. On either side were the houses that David, Charlene and their boys and that Randal, Audrina, Peter and the girls had been residing in.

The three had just returned from New Orleans and at their feet were duffle bags filled with belongings.

Marcel wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and looked at the other two men with bleak eyes.

"How do we tell them?"

"We're lucky, Marcel." David said quietly. "We weren't there and besides, most of our damage was water damage. The wards held against looters and everything else."

Randal looked away for a moment. They had been lucky. They're homes still stood which was more than most could say and, amazingly, they were not condemned. But the smell... the smell of the city was beyond anything he had ever experienced. It was a hot smell, there was no other way to put it. Sour and foul, it invaded his nostrils and settled at the back of his throat so that he could taste it.

He was certain that he would never forget it.

"We tell them the truth." Randal said, exhaling. "We tell them that the city is too damaged for us to go home to right now and that we have homes but it will take some time before we can return. Then, we all sit down and decide if we are going to stay in Atlanta or if we wish to move closer to New Orleans.

The other two men nodded and, at some unspoken command, all three lifted the bags at once.

"We're back!" David called as they walked inside. The sound of stomping feet announced the stampede of their families and all three found themselves bombarded with hugs, questions and shouted demands for information.

Randal held up his hand and everyone quieted.

"The city is in shambles." he announced. "Our houses have been damaged but they are not condemned and can be fixed. And yes, Fred, before you ask, Cafe du Mond is alright. Most of the worst damage is in the 9th Ward." Audrina sat down, her eyes wide. That had been her home when they first came to America. Randal looked at her and saw the question in her eyes. "The building you lived in was flooded and yes, Audrina, many people died in it."

"Oh, brilliant, Randal." Peter rolled his eyes. "In front of the kids."

"We aren't stupid, Uncle Peter." Danielle said quietly. "We've seen the pictures and the newspapers. The casinos are in the middle of the road in Biloxi. That gave us an idea that people are dead."

"And we saw the picture of the body in the water under the woman walking on the bridge." Brandon added.

"And the people stuck on the interstate." Jason added.

"We know people are dead." Fred sighed. P.L. grunted and nodded. Clarice edged closer to her father and nodded as well.

"We aren't gonna be able to go home anytime soon." Marcel sat down in a chair and looked at everyone. "We got what we could from the houses and we'll have to go back in to take care of the repairs. I think the question is do we want to stay here or move closer."

"What about the team?" Peter asked, his hand on Clarice's shoulder.

Nadine sniffed. "We _**are**_ the team. All of us but Henry and Dianne." She paused. "Has anyone heard from Henry and Dianne?"

Charlene hesitated. "Dianne made it to Houston." she said finally, pointedly looking at the children. Audrina moaned a little.

"He was staying." David said quietly. "Didn't see the point in leaving." He swallowed. "We couldn't get to his house."

"Idiot." Nadine breathed, closing her eyes.

"Gregory plans to keep the team up." Marcel said, reaching out to take his wife's hand. "He'll be in contact with us later this week."

That evening, Randal sat in his room, reading through some of the books he had retrieved from home. He didn't even look up at the soft knock.

"Come in, Audrina." he called.

He smelled her perfume as she stepped inside.

"How bad is it? Really?" she asked.

He sighed and put his book down. "It's bad, Princess."

She was pale but she nodded. "Alright."

"It's a good thing that you were planning on staying in our house." he continued.

"Oh?" she asked.

"Besides the fact that Peter's apartment is too small for four of you, it also no longer has a roof." Audrina winced and then rallied with a bright smile.

"You should be looking at the bright side, Randal." she announced.

"And what's that?" He raised his eyebrows in question.

"You finally did what you've been threatening to do for years: You finally moved us to Atlanta."

* * *

_**December 2, 2005 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

The city was still in shambles but it was slowly fixing itself.

Randal watched as his daughter and her friends headed out to one of the attempts at normalcy: Youth Quidditch.

They had come back the day after the American Holiday, Thanksgiving and within an hour, Randal had not been able to hide the whispers from Audrina.

Some members of the magical community were blaming Hurricane Katrina on purebloods.

The first time he had heard this, he had been dumbfounded.

"How in the world do they come to this conclusion?" he had asked his associate.

"They're saying some of the pureblood voudons went out in the swamp and conjured something they couldn't control." he shrugged. "And some of them are saying that they didn't care who they hurt or killed so long as they got what they wanted. Some people are saying it wasn't just the usual voudon but a bunch of purebloods out there thinking they could control anything that came their way... and couldn't." He had continued to explain that some people were whispering that it was typical pureblood arrogance and they were all paying the price.

Randal thought that was pretty ridiculous. He had not believed in the whole Voodoo... _**thing**_ when he got to Louisiana but had come to respect it very quickly.

Forget Death Eaters. Nothing was nastier than a voudon on the warpath.

But there was no way that they could have caused... _**this**_!

Could they?

Randal was reevaluating his opinions on other people that were different from him and coming to the conclusion that only a fool underestimated them.

Audrina had been worried and hissed her worries at all of them after the children were in bed.

"It starts like this!" she insisted. "Peter! You know I'm right! One day it's just whispers and the next..." She shuddered. "The next they're burning your house while your family is trapped inside. They don't find your loved ones bodies. They come in the night and they drag you out. And they do this because of the family you were born into."

She was pale and shaking. Randal stared at her, horrified.

"I can't do that again!" she pressed her fist to her mouth.

"Baby, it won't come to that." Peter put his arms around her. "It won't be like it was back in England."

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "It will be. It will be!"

Randal stood and walked to her. "Princess." She looked up at him. "I won't let them hurt you or anyone else in our family. You know that." One side of his mouth moved up a bit. "I'm scarier than they are."

She laughed a little. "Yes. Yes, you are."

That night, Randal gazed out at the night sky, partially obscured by the large oak tree outside his window.

Surely it wouldn't happen as Audrina feared. Tempers were running high. People were grief stricken and angry at forces that they could not control. They needed something to blame but surely these irrational whispers would stop.

Surely.

* * *

_**March 16th, 2006 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

The missing Beater, Henry had never shown back up. What was left of his house had been searched but to no avail. His family had held a small service for him and figured that his body was one of many that would never be found.

Diane the Chaser had come back from Houston once things calmed down a bit but refused to discuss her time spent huddling with Muggles in the Superdome.

The try-outs for a new Beater had been intense but they had finally settled on a young man named Ray that spoke with a thick Cajun accent and just seemed bemused to be on the team.

He actually worked better with the team than Henry had and soon, they began climbing to the top of the league and National Championships suddenly seemed within reach.

The kids were back in school now and still played in their Youth Quidditch League. In fact, those six were some of the best players and were usually pitted against children older than them when they played.

The paparazzi sometimes stalked the Youth Leagues, snapping pictures of the children, who they had dubbed The Six, playing or being picked up by one of the parents. Randal had threatened legal action the day that Audrina came home upset with six shocked children.

"They cornered us, Randal! It was insane! Cameras were going off and the kids were just standing there like they didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to do!" She told him, pressing her hands against her flushed cheeks. "They are just little kids! Not celebrities!"

The press seemed to think differently. They wanted to know what their favorite targets were doing and wanted to include their children in their papers.

Realization that this wouldn't just suddenly stopped prompted the adults to sit all six children down for a discussion that involved explaining that while in the public eye, they had to be careful not to do anything that they wouldn't want everyone to know about.

"I hate what they call us." Fred groused. "It sounds like a super-villain group!"

"Oh no! They are on to our nefarious plots!" shrieked Brandon, throwing up his hands dramatically.

"However shall we take over the world now!" Danni flung herself back on the couch.

"Don't let anyone hear you saying that." David muttered. "You're pureblood and some people won't think you're joking."

The rumors about purebloods had not died down yet and more and more people seemed willing to listen even though some of the theories and stories were just ridiculous. Stories about purebloods stealing magic from muggleborns and casting weird rituals out in the swamps that caused disasters for everyone.

Nothing had come of it but rumors and whispers but Randal had decided to listen to Audrina and keep an eye on the situation as best he could.

Surely these ridiculous stories would die down as the rebuilding continued and people got their lives back.

* * *

_**June 24th, 2007 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

"We did it." Peter sat down heavily on the couch and stared at the wall. "We're going to the World Cup."

The rest of the team sat with equally stunned faces around him. Audrina and Randal watched them, Audrina with amusement and Randal with calculation.

There would be royalties and advertising deals and so many things to pay attention to now.

Especially for Peter. People just loved Peter.

Randal smiled. Finally, the Idiot was going to be useful. Without thinking, he patted his coat pocket that held the contract that Peter had signed, making Randal his manager. He had the original in his safe in his office but he liked to keep at least the copy on him for his own amusement. The fool had not even bothered to read it before signing it.

If things went as planned, Randal knew that his little girl would never _**have**_ to work and it would all be because of The Idiot... and Randal's careful planning.

One month later, even Randal found himself yelling excitedly as the American Team played against France in Germany.

"It's right there, Daddy! Why don't they see it?" Danni moaned, pointing toward Germany's hoops.

"What is, sweetheart?" Randal asked.

"The Snitch! It's right **_there_**!" Danni smacked her hands down on the chair she sat on.

Randal snickered. Even his nine year old was smarter than The Idiot.

It was another hour and a half before Peter caught the Snitch, winning the game for America. Randal caught Audrina as she screamed ecstatically and flung herself at him. The kids were yelling and hugging each other and hopping up and down.

Hours later, the parties were still going on when Randal noticed his daughter was curled against a sleeping Fred in a chair. The other four were curled around them in various states of exhaustion.

"I'm going to take the children to bed." Randal told Nadine. She grinned at him and nodded.

"Thank-you, Randal! Appreciate it!" she cried before someone else raised a glass to their victory.

Randal herded the sleepy children through the shadows toward their area and beds, carrying Clarice and holding Jason's hand as they went. Those two had been unable to completely wake up but at least Jason was walking. Danielle, Fred, P.L. and Brandon were yawning and leaning on each other but seemed to be more awake than not.

"Keep up, please." Randal said over his shoulder.

"Yes, Daddy." Danielle yawned but the four of them continued to lag behind. Randal wondered how exactly he would get the kids back if they all began stumbling as badly as Jason was or worse, became like Clarice who was actually snoring against his shoulder.

A woman with black hair seemed to be having different issues with her children. The children in her charge, some who looked to be teenagers, seemed to want to go back to the parties.

"I don't care! You're all going to bed!" the woman insisted, her voice heavy with an Irish accent.

"But Mu-u-u-u-u-u-um!" moaned one girl. "We won't get into any trouble! **_Promise_**!"

The woman snorted. "Like I haven't heard **_that_** one before. I **_do_** remember Barcelona, Noelle. Now march."

Randal began navigating his lot around hers as one of the teenagers paused right in front of him. He smiled a little at first but then his smile faded. A pair of huge green eyes impaled him as the color faded from her dusky skin.

"Arianna! Come on!" one of the other teenagers yelled. A brunette girl trotted back and grabbed the other girl's hand. "Sorry, mister." She tugged the girl toward the others. The Indian girl, Arianna, twisted around so that she was continuing to stare at him, her eyes frightened.

Randal remembered her. He remembered her family, too. They had tried to leave. They had only joined the Death Eaters to gain access to different magic but when the war really started and people began to die, they wanted out.

You didn't get to just quit the Death Eaters.

The family had stayed alive for a day before Voldemort finally lost interest in the game of torturing them. That was when he had one of them use the Imperius Curse to control the youngest and end the game.

Randal still shuddered when he remembered, late at night, the blank look on the little girl's face as she carved her parents into a bloody mess. And then, she had turned to her brother...

Hours later, he had been standing outside when a noise caught his attention. He went to investigate, expecting perhaps a small animal. Instead, he found a dirty, bloodied little girl dragging herself toward the woods. Their eyes had met, his curious and hers dull. They stared at each other for a moment, his wand pointed at her. She had tried to straighten up but couldn't.

Randal hadn't realized he had lifted his wand and stepped away until the girl had disappeared into the darkness. He found himself hoping against the odds that the girl had escaped. Apparently she had. Randal knew she had recognized him as well as he had remembered her.

The next morning, Randal was the first one to the portkey.

* * *

_**July 25th, 2007 Germany**_

"It was him!" Arianna screamed, her eyes wild and her face flushed. "I will **_never_** forget him! Those eyes! It was him!"

Jack tried to put his arm around his daughter but she pushed herself away and retreated to the far side of the room. "Don't! Don't anyone touch me!" She was wringing her hands frantically. "It was the one that let me leave!" She stared at a point on the far wall, lost in her own memories. Frantically wiping at her hands to get her parents' dried blood from them, knowing what had happened and knowing that somewhere, her beloved twin was dead, too. Finding a small hole in the cell she was in, wiggling through it to the cold air outside. How it felt to scurry like an animal across the frosted ground, cuts on her hands, feet and legs stinging. Fear making her sick to her stomach and shock making her numb. The tall figure walking toward her, wand extended. How he stood there, staring down at her with an unreadable look that could have been pity but she wasn't sure. Expecting to die and not caring. And then, the shock, the surprise when he lifted his wand and jerked his head toward the woods and safety. Scrambling through the woods, ignoring the thorns that tore at her skin and clothing until she reached a road. Rocking back and forth, crying in a ditch until Muggles found her and carried her to safety. And for months after, she had thought she was losing her mind... and she almost hoped she was. She hadn't felt safe again until the day that Jack and Valentine took her home.

Arianna folded to the ground, her arms wrapped around her knees, keening to herself.

The other members of her family watched her, startled. Arianna did not usually react strongly about anything. In fact, most of them figured that her capacity for emotions had been damaged irreparably when she was a child.

"Ari, it couldn't have been." James said quietly to his sister as he knelt beside her. "They aren't alive now. They're gone. Harry Potter killed Voldemort and every one of them that was still alive got taken to Azkaban." The scars on his face and neck stood out against his gray skin. He was scared, too, but didn't want to admit it.

"Not all of them." Arianna choked, lifting her face. "They're still out there. Don't you remember? Mum's friend and her baby! They never found the person that did it! Oh God. James! He found us! He's going to come for us! He's going to finish it! He'll take me over again and he'll- I won't be able to- We'll die!"

"Arianna, you managed to fight it off enough when you were five not to kill me." James held his hand out to his sister. She flinched away. "I'll protect you this time, Ari. I promise I will. They won't get you again. They won't get either of us this time."

Valentine pulled her hysterical daughter against her. Arianna was stiff at first and then melted, clutching at her mother's shirt. "Love, you said yourself that he let you go. If he wanted you dead, he would have killed you that night. Besides, he doesn't know where you live. Where **_any_** of us live. It is not the same man that killed Mia and Fiona. There's no way. And there were no problems at this event. It's alright, darlin'. It's alright." Arianna's hysteria gave way to tears as her mother rocked her. Over Arianna's head, Valentine and Jack shared a Look. He nodded and went to find an auror.

The next morning, newspapers across Europe announced that one of the missing Death Eaters had been spotted in Germany.


	4. Chapter 4

_*** This is actually take 2 on this. My son has learned that slapping the keyboard when Mommy is at the computer makes her make funny noises and even funnier faces. He erases things and then laughs as I try to fix it. My four month old is a sadist. _

_Anyway. _

_This is my disclaimer. I own nothing. I get nothing but amusement. Thank-you for reading and thank-you everyone for being so very nice! And I promise that everything will be explained. Soon, too!***_

_**December 2nd, 2007 Romania**_

"How are they holding up?" Charlie asked through the floo. Valentine sighed.

"I thought we were done with the nightmares." she said, shaking her head. "But ever since Germany... Arianna doesn't sleep at all anymore. Sheridan is walking around like a bloody zombie and the rest of them all signed up for self-defense classes." She shook her head. "I just wish this would end. It's been almost ten bloody years. It should be over, yeah?"

"Yeah." Charlie said sadly. "I don't think it ever will be."

"They've got that band that their therapist suggested." Valentine winced. "Well, the ones that aren't tone deaf do. The ones that are have found reasons to be involved. Bastien is their official Roadie, he said."

"How's that all working out?" Charlie asked, curious.

"Amazingly well." Valentine smiled proudly. "They've been doing some clubs here and there. They work out feelings through the music which is, I suppose, what they were going for. And you haven't seen anything until you see tiny wee Madeline going crazy on the drums." She chuckled. "They've even recruited Ethan to sing for them. Ally doesn't like being in front of people for that long so they trade out or sing duets." She snorted. "They call themselves 'Fate's Refugees'."

"I'll have to catch a show." Charlie smiled.

"Aye, you will. How have you been, Charlie?" Valentine's voice took on a gentle tone like she was talking to one of her children.

He opened his mouth to say that he was fine but what came out was something different.

"I dream about her." he said. "Still."

"Ah, Charlie." she said, sympathy in her voice. "I know this isn't what you want to hear but have you dated since... since Mia?"

He shook his head. "I tried a couple of times but- but I kept comparing them and the girl I was with..." His shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "She lost the comparison."

Valentine nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Charlie."

"Aren't you going to tell me to stop living in the past and it's time to move on?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Of course not." Valentine said. "If I had lost my Jack, I don't think I would be doing as well as you are. It's not my place to tell you what to do or how to live. I was worried at first but now, you go out and do things. You just don't do them with women. It's not my business."

Charlie smiled at her. "Thanks, Val. I appreciate it."

"You'd better, boy." Valentine grinned at him. "Friends like me are rare."

"That they are." Charlie ignored the fact that she was joking and smiled at her.

"I miss them, too, Charlie." Valentine confessed.

"I know you do, Val." Charlie said.

"We suck. You know that, right?" Valentine smiled sadly. "She'd be kicking us in our arses over this."

"That she would be, Val. That she would be." Charlie agreed.

* * *

_**February 29th, 2008 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

The rumors had grown into something louder and nastier. Purebloods were being blamed for everything from hurricanes to Global Warming to the recession.

And some of those rumors were downright nasty and the mumbling that came after them was threatening.

It was for that reason that Randal pulled his daughter into his bedroom after dinner.

"What's up, Daddy?" she asked, her eyes were their natural dual color instead of the darkened glamour she usually wore.

"The world is not a safe place, Danielle." he began.

"Is this going to be like the speech Aunt Audi gave us about watching our backs and being careful when we go visit Tante Marie?" she interrupted.

"Not exactly and who is Tante Marie?" Randal frowned and for once didn't scold her for interrupting.

"She has a voodoo shop in the Quarter near where we got our wands." Danielle waved her hand. "She's the real deal, Daddy. I mean, she does the whole song and dance thing for the tourists but she's for real."

"Ah." Randal filed that away for future discussion. "And Audrina knows about this?"

"Aunt Nadine knows who Tante Marie is. She introduced us." Randal nodded. Nadine was a careful woman and protected the children from dangers that even Randal didn't expect. Like water moccasins in the backyard and rusty nails sticking out of the cracks in the sidewalk. She was a wonder. Randal hadn't even known what a water moccasin _**was**_ until Nadine. And he was still trying to figure out how a poisonous snake would end up being named that.

"This is a discussion on recent events, yes, but I am going to take it someplace that we won't be sharing with anyone else." Danielle tilted her head, curious. "I am going to teach you some ways to defend yourself. Ways that you won't learn in any class. And ways that will be our secret."

"Can I tell the others?" she asked. All of them had been learning simple spells and such and all of the children shared their knowledge with each other.

Randal shook his head. "No. No one. These will be our secret. Just for the Montague portion of the family. Can I trust you?" She nodded slowly and then with a sense of strength.

"Yes, Daddy. I won't tell them. I promise." she swore.

"Then show me the spells you already know." He sat down and watched his daughter perform several simple charms that he knew were taught at her age and then a few that were taught to older children and then two that some adults he knew had problems with.

He smiled and took her hand. "You will practice these with my wand." Danielle's eyes widened and she nodded eagerly. "The first one I am going to teach you is a slicing charm." He placed a pillow on a chair and turned her so that she faced it. He pressed his wand into her hand and positioned himself behind her. "You move your wand like this." He guided her arm and hand. "And you say this, 'Sectumsempra'."

Danni took a deep breath, lifted her chin and slashed her father's wand. "Sectumsempra!" she cried. A small gash appeared in the pillow. Danielle beamed and looked back at her father. Randal smiled at her and petted her hair.

"Good girl. Try again."

By the end of the evening, Danielle had almost mastered the spell and Randal would be replacing some pillows. He had wisely kept his favorites hidden in his closet.

"These are sorta dangerous, aren't they?" she asked, her eyes too smart for her age.

"I hope that you never have need of these spells but you must know them in case you do." he told her grimly. "It is in your blood. It is your heritage."

"I want to learn more." she said and promptly yawned. Randal chuckled.

"Soon, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead. "Next time, I'll teach you a charm that will make things blow up."

* * *

_**November 27th, 2008 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

From what Randal could tell, the American Holiday of Thanksgiving seemed to revolve around eating.

**_A lot_** of eating.

The first year he had been here, he had not celebrated the holiday. Nor had he celebrated the second year. Finally, Audrina had insisted that they attempt it since it seemed to be so important. She had researched it thoroughly and attempted to cook a turkey like the Americans did each year.

This was also the year that they learned that the fire alarms in their house worked.

They had ordered a nice meal from a restaurant and had eaten it in the formal dining room with the good China and silverware while Audrina had attempted to explain the holiday.

"It's to celebrate the pilgrims that came to America from England and almost starved but were saved by the natives of the area." She had shrugged.

"The natives saved them and then were basically driven out and killed off and tortured for another civilization's greed and gluttony and avarice and all around nastiness? And they celebrate this by eating. A lot." Randal nodded wisely. "Interesting."

Audrina rolled her eyes. "That is not what I said."

"But it's the truth." Audrina pursed her lips at his statement. He lifted his eyebrows.

"You are missing the point and if you don't understand, I am not going to explain it again." Audrina sniffed.

Randal had grinned and realized that he had been a little too close to what she had been thinking. This was a holiday where gluttony was encouraged.

Years later, Charlene had put it better and with more understanding.

"It's a chance for families to be together." she explained calmly. "You appreciate one another and what you have. For one day, you don't think about what you don't have but are thankful for what you do have."

"And the gluttony part is just fun." David added cheerfully as he swiped a spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes.

After that, it made more sense and seemed more enjoyable.

The tradition that their little family had developed over the years was that each Thanksgiving Evening, after dinner, all of them gathered in the living room at the Montague/Delainy house and watched a Christmas Movie.

The other part of the tradition was the argument over what movie that they watched.

It didn't matter that they would watch all of them before season was over and always more than one in the course of the evening, part of the fun was the argument which actually started well before that evening.

This year, Randal had started campaigning early for his movie choice.

He called in favors, he bribed and he shamelessly manipulated until he was seated in his favorite spot on the couch with Danielle curled against him, a bowl of popcorn in his lap and a hapless man surrounded by insanity but still determined to have his happy family on the screen.

There were moments that Randal truly understood Clark W. Griswold. He only wanted his happy family! It was something that Randal, himself, strived for.

He thought he was the only one that had ever noticed it until that night when Marcel started chortling as Clark had a nervous break-down because his family wouldn't cooperate.

"What?" Randal gave him a dirty look for interrupting the movie.

"I know why you like this movie so much!" he laughed. "It's you, man! You!"

Randal scowled at him.

David propped his feet up on the coffee table, on top of a wide variety of magazines and newspapers. He had them up there for all of thirty seconds before Audrina, pausing in her discussion of how insane the Quarter would be since the Muggles were having some sort of sporting event this weekend, sent a stinging hex at his feet and he quickly removed them. She smiled sweetly.

"Feet don't go on the furniture, David." she reminded him. Danni narrowed her eyes and mouthed the incantation Audrina had just used. Randal had a feeling that Danni would be practicing a stinging hex as soon as she could. David stuck his tongue out and all the children giggled.

"Don't care if he puts his feet on those." Danni announced. Randal squeezed her shoulders and understood her displeasure with the magazines. The children fascinated the paparazzi in a different way than the adults did. Adults thought that they were adorable. Other children thought that they were fascinating.

The children hated the fact that they couldn't get ice cream without someone taking their picture. Randal felt bad for them. He was the least interesting of them all and had intimidated even the most stalwart photographer. But that didn't help the others. With World Cup Quidditch players and an International Singing Sensation all living in the same area, paparazzi viewed their lives fair game.

It was to a point that for any of them to get any privacy outside of their homes, they used Glamour Charms. While the adults all accepted that they had chosen this life, their children had not and sometimes, they felt guilty for it.

"We aren't famous in Europe yet, are we?" Clarice said thoughtfully. "We can go there."

"We are _**not**_ going there!" Audrina cried. "Forget about it!" She had been jumpy since she had seen the reports of a Death Eater at the World Cup. It had taken Randal over an hour to calm her down and convince her that Death Eaters would not be chasing them to America.

"I don't know what I'm expecting." she admitted to him as she started to leave that day. "Perhaps to come in and find a Death Eater sitting on the couch reading a newspaper." She chuckled at her attempt at humor. Randal smiled and picked his paper back up again and stretched out again on the couch.

"That would be utterly ridiculous." he agreed.

"Doesn't matter." Danni grumped. "They print our pictures there, too, when it's slow." She hated the media attention more than the others. She seemed to take her privacy being invaded as a personal affront. She didn't seem to mind being the center of attention when she wanted to be but when she wanted privacy, she wanted everyone to leave her alone.

Randal squeezed her shoulders again and the family returned to watching as Clark fought for his perfect Christmas.

Out of the corner of his eye, Randal eyed Peter and wondered if he would be insulted if Randal started calling him Cousin Eddie.

* * *

_**September 19th, 2009 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Danielle was engrossed in a book. The others were playing games and chatting with each other but Danielle was ignoring them all, staring instead at her book.

Randal stepped behind his daughter and glanced over her shoulder to see what had captured her attention. His heart almost stopped when he saw Bella laughing up at him from the page.

"What are you reading?" he managed to ask.

"History book." she replied, not looking up.

"She won't put it down." Fred said, flicking a folded piece of paper over P.L.'s fingers. "Score!"

"Fascinating stuff." Danielle murmured. "This woman here, she was really nasty! Look at some of the things that she did!" She jabbed her finger into a paragraph. Randal read a couple of sentences and stopped.

"Just remember that history is written by the victors." he said quietly. Her eyes flickered up to him.

"I will, Daddy." she said, her voice a bit guarded. Then, she went back to the book.

If he had stayed, she would have seen her eyes widen a bit and then lift to the door he had just disappeared through. He would have seen her troubled look and seen how she turned a couple of pages, read a couple of passages and then blink as a realization hit her.

And he would have seen some of the innocence he fought so hard to keep die in her eyes.

* * *

_**February 17th, 2010 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Randal walked into the school administrator's office and blinked.

"Why are you purple?" he blurted, staring at the children.

"Stupid Tommy Harris and his moronic friend, Scott Roberts threw something in my potion in class." Fred snarled. "I frikkin' hate them!"

"The whole class is purple." Danni said quietly, chewing her lip and tapping her skin with her wand. She seemed to be trying to figure out how to at least disguise the color of her skin. "The whole thing blew up and filled the room with this purple foam."

"And why are you six in here?" Randal asked.

"Our whole class is being sent home." P.L. explained.

"But we threatened to jump on Tommy Harris and Scott Roberts and add some black and blue to their purple." Jason shrugged.

"So they put us in here." Clarice sighed. "We're being persecuted for our beliefs!"

"All of you?" Randal frowned. "And what beliefs?"

Fred set her jaw and lifted her chin. She and Danni both shared that expression. "We stick together." She smiled a wicked little smile. "And we believe that Tommy Harris and Scott Roberts need the crap beaten out of them."

"Gotcha." They all turned at the hissed declaration of triumph. Danni was white again. At least, her skin was. Her hair and clothing were purple still. She pointed at the others and they, too, lost the purple tint to their skin. She pulled a lock of her hair around so that she could see it better. "I think I'll leave this as is. I kind of like it." She glanced at her father. "What do you think, Daddy? Purple in my hair?"

Randal lifted a lock. "Purple is the color of royalty." he commented. "Just please do not shave it off. I don't think I could handle a bald daughter. I would still love you." He hurried to add. "But I would have to buy you a hat." He gave them all a rare, true smile. "Shall we? Your parents are all busy until dinner so if you are interested, I will buy lunch."

"I do adore you, Randal." P.L. said with his usual quiet dignity. But there was a smile on his face.

Randal was smiling for them as they walked from the school.

* * *

_**May 16th, 2011 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Danielle was gifted at Charms, Hexes and Jinxes. Her potion work was alright but her Transfiguration... her Transfiguration was awful. She passed her classes but she struggled with it. No one had managed to teach it to her in a way that she understood.

But her Charms...

Even without his careful tutelage, Randal had a feeling that the girl would have been a genius with them.

He had started teaching her to duel at the New Year and she was quite good. She was only 12 but she already thought fast on her feet and used some of the "safe" Charms she had learned in school and from the witches in their family in ways that he would never have thought of. She had actually beat him for the first time by making him hiccup bubbles first and then locked his legs together and stunned him. She had stood over him with a triumphant look on her face and Randal couldn't help the surge of pride.

He had started teaching her these things when the whispers against Purebloods escalated and some Purebloods were attacked. They had only been beaten and not killed but it was enough. Randal could read the writing on the wall and he would be damned if his baby girl was hurt by some Half-Blood with a grudge.

Now if he could just discourage this ridiculous obsession that she had with dragons. The girl was convinced that someday, she would work with the bloody beasts.

He watched as she soaked in another book of Charms, her eyes dancing across the page and her lips lifting in a smile.

"Good book?" he asked. She looked up and nodded.

"Great book." she agreed. Her smile faded a bit and she sucked her lower lip in. "Daddy, I need to ask you some questions and I want you to be honest with me."

"Alright, sweetheart." he agreed, sitting down in front of her. She lifted her wand and cast a privacy charm. His eyebrows lifted.

"Impressive." he said appreciatively.

"Thanks." She folded her hands on her lap, her fingers still caressing her wand. "I found some pictures in my European History book." He got still. "And Daddy, one of the men in one of the pictures, he looks like you." She reached down and plucked a book from a stack sitting beside her. She opened it to a page quickly and he knew that she had been studying it before. He stared a moment before looking back up at her.

"Does anyone else know?" he asked quietly. She quickly shook her head.

"They don't really look at the pictures and I'm taking a more advanced History Class than they are." she said. There was something in her voice that he couldn't place but he discounted it as her nerves.

"I did things in my past that I was not proud of." he said carefully. "And I would like you to promise that what I tell you stays in our family. In **_our_** part of the family. Just you and me." He amended quickly. "Can you do that?" She studied him a moment and then nodded slowly. "I was proud of my heritage as a Pureblood. I followed a man that lied and made promises that he could not keep and people were hurt. I regret it all now. If I had not done those things then your mother would still be here with us." He watched her face, looking for signs of anger, disgust or disbelief. He saw a strange, calm expression instead so he continued. He carefully lifted the sleeve on his left arm and removed the glamour. This time, he heard a reaction from her as she gasped softly at the sight of his mark.

"Oh my God." she breathed. He watched her lower jaw tremble before she ground her teeth together. She looked up at him and then lifted a trembling hand toward him. She extended one finger and carefully touched the snake portion of the mark. "Oh my God." She swallowed hard and looked up at him. "You weren't on the same side as Aunt Audrina and Uncle Peter." It wasn't a question but he still shook his head. "They don't know." Again, he answered anyway by shaking his head. "You were on the side that killed Fred's father and Clarice's mother." He nodded slowly. "Were you- were you there when they died?" He shook his head. She closed her eyes briefly and then reopened them. "And my mother?"

"She was, too." he said softly. "Bella. She was amazing but at the end... at the end, she was warped by the man we followed. I loved her so much but she was... she was not the woman I married." He remembered her reaction to reading what his Bella had done and decided to save telling her what her mother's name had been for another day.

Danielle sat quietly, gazing at the curtains. He waited for her to finish thinking. Finally, she looked up at him. "What does this mean for us?" she asked finally.

He shook his head. "Nothing, sweetheart. I am the same man I have always been. I love you. I love our family. I will protect us." He would even protect the two of them from the rest of their family if need be. He thought for a moment that perhaps he had said this aloud but realized that Danielle just knew him. He caressed her face and the look in her eyes made him want to cry. "We have to keep this a secret, sweetheart. A secret between just the two of us. The others won't understand. They can't understand. And they won't forgive. This mark... it's your heritage." he said sadly. "It's your curse." She closed her eyes briefly and then nodded her agreement.

"I found another picture of a woman in a book in the library." she said carefully. "She was involved with a group in Ireland that took people out of England. She was killed."

"Yes?" He cocked his head.

"Her name was Mia Kelley." Danielle continued softly. "Daddy, she looked _**just**_ like me. When I don't wear my glamours, I mean."

He frowned. "I don't know, sweetheart. I'm sorry." The name was familiar but he couldn't place it.

"Was she... was she related to us?" Danielle pressed.

"If she was Pureblood then there is a very good chance that yes, she was." Randal shrugged. "Most of the families were connected in some way or another."

She nodded slowly, that unreadable expression back on her face.

"Alright, Daddy. I need to think some." she said carefully and stood. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you, too, sweetheart." he replied.

If he had followed her, he would have seen that she barely made it to her room before collapsing on the floor, shaking and crying. He would have seen the disillusioned look on her face as she hugged herself. He would have seen the fear.

And if he had ever looked at their class schedules, he would have realized that Danielle had lied to him for the first time in her life.

She shared a history class with P.L. and Brandon.

For the first time in her life, his baby had lied to him and done it to protect someone else.

* * *

_**May 18th, 2012 Romania**_

Charlie sat up in bed, gasping. Sweat poured from his body in rivers. He looked around frantically before realizing where he was. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

He expected the dreams to come on this day of any other on the calendar but that didn't make them any easier. This time, he had been trapped in a fiery inferno, watching a small figure writhing in the flames and unable to come to her rescue or even move. He finally got his arm free and was reaching for his wand when the figure was in front of him. Mia looked at him, her dual eyes reflecting the flames he knew had consumed her body. The sound of a baby crying echoed over the roaring of the flames.

"Open your eyes, Charlie!" she commanded. "Open your bloody eyes and stop running away! Face it! Face it and ask questions! Go back! Ask the questions and open your goddamned eyes!"

He had sat up in bed with her words echoing in his ears.

"Alright, Mia-Mya! Alright!" he yelled to the ceiling. "I will! I bloody well will!"

An hour later, Charlie was on his way to Dublin.

He arrived there late in the afternoon and, after a quick message to the Larkin Family, headed to the place that Mia had died.

He was standing in front of an empty lot where once a building had stood when he heard a throat being cleared behind him.

"Are you alright?" Jack Larkin asked without preamble. "You look like hell."

"I haven't slept." Charlie said, staring at the spot. "I dream about her and she's always telling me to open my eyes. She won't leave me alone about it. She wants me to come back here and to ask questions. She just didn't tell me the questions that I need to ask."

There was silence and he knew that Valentine and Jack were communicating without speaking again. Charlie didn't wait for them to finish. He stalked across the lot to where the building had stood.

He stood there, looking around for something, anything.

"Alright, Charlie. We'll help you." Valentine said. Charlie looked back at her.

"You think I'm insane." he stated.

She shrugged. "Been thinking that for years. It's one of the reasons we like you. But I also think you're in pain and if this will give you peace, so be it."

"Maybe that's what she wants." Jack suggested. "Maybe she wants you to find some peace."

"But you won't find anything here." Valentine added. "Come on. Let's go get a bit to eat and talk. We can decide what to do first."

They passed a coffee shop but when Charlie started to go in, Jack grabbed his arm and shook his head.

"You have your ghosts, we have ours." he said softly. "Not here."

Inside the next coffee shop, Valentine smiled sadly. "Julie worked in that shop. She disappeared the same night Mia and Fiona died."

Charlie nodded slowly. "Can I ask a few questions about... about what happened?"

Valentine nodded. "That's why we're here."

"How did you find out what happened?" Charlie asked the first question that came to mind.

"We were all supposed to meet at Mia's that night. Julie was supposed to take over the lease while she was gone. She was leaving the next morning and we were going to get take-away and keep her company." Valentine explained. "Jack was running late and was going to bring the girls while I went ahead with Ethan. We were late but not **_as_** late." She gripped her mug tight and looked down into the liquid inside like she could see the memories there. "I smelled the smoke. I heard the sirens and I knew. I just **_knew_**." Tears glimmered on her eyelashes. "I ran. I was holding Ethan to me and he was asking where Mia and Fi-Fi were. I nearly knocked this poor man over when we were running. And I saw it." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "The Mark was fading but the fire... I could feel it. It was so hot."

"Who- who identified them?" Charlie asked.

Jack held up one hand. "I did. Well, as best I could. Daniel and Rikko were in no state and neither was Val. Honestly, if they hadn't found her wand, I wouldn't have been sure." He shook his head. "But Charlie, there was nothing left of Fiona. The people investigating said it was too hot and she was so little." He frowned. "That never made sense to me. She was a person and she had bones, yeah? She should have had remains."

"Wait." Charlie stared at the man. "You're telling me that my daughter's body was never found?"

"It never sat well with me, either." Valentine murmured. "I even asked about it and was told the same thing Jack was. And then we adopted the children and there was so much going on with them that I just-" She shook her head. "I couldn't reopen the wounds by the time that the children were settled."

Charlie stared at a spot on the wall. "How many bodies were found?" he asked, his mind whirling.

"Five." Jack said. "Mia and four of her neighbors. They were all identified. Three men and one old lady... they weren't burned like Mia was. The smoke got them." Understanding suddenly lit his eyes. "Charlie, if the other bodies... I explained it away as Magical Fire. Wait." He blinked a couple of times. "But if it was, why were there still bodies at all? Why was there _**anything**_?"

Valentine shot to her feet. "I'll be back. I have a few favors owed to me and I think I'll be callin' them in now." She ran for the door.

She was back in less than thirty minutes. "The investigator in charge of the case was fired a year after Mia was killed. He had a bad habit of covering things up to make his life easier and faster. They've had to reinvestigate all of his cases. They hadn't made it to Mia and Fiona's yet."

"What do you mean 'covering things up'?" Jack demanded.

Valentine licked her lips. "I mean that sometimes, he would falsify documents and come up with insane stories to make it so that he didn't have to investigate." She hesitated. "And he had some dubious connections to some English families that are now either dead or residing in Prison." She hesitated. "Or are presumed dead."

"What are you telling us, Valentine?" There was a roaring in Charlie's ears and his heart was racing.

"He won't know until he investigates but from a glance, my friend thinks that it was a regular fire caused by a rupture in the gas line and that it should not have been hot enough to completely destroy Fiona's body." Charlie stared at her as if through a tunnel. "Charlie, Fiona's body was not in that building."

Charlie stared at her as the words echoed through his head. "My daughter may be alive." he said dumbly. Valentine nodded and then a slow smile spread across her face.

"Aye, Charlie my lad, Fiona may still be alive!"

It was much later that night when Charlie finally saw the mausoleum where Mia's body lay. Valentine had gone ahead home while Jack waited for Charlie. The three had spent hours going over what they knew and what they had thought that they knew, looking for any kind of connection and occasionally stopping to grin like maniacs at each other.

Charlie sank to the ground in front of the stone and pressed his hand against the cold marble beneath her name. `

"I opened my eyes, Mia-Mya." he said. "I'm sorry it took me so long and I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to come and see you. I'm sorry for so many things that but those are the main two right now." He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to the stone. "I'll find her, Mia. I promise I will. If it takes forever, I'll find our girl."

* * *

_**May 18th, 2012 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

The book fell from Randal's fingers and hit the floor with a dull thud.

He had known the spell was here. He had known it was just a matter of time until he found it. And at long last, he had found it.

He had thought that this day would make him happy. And at first, he had been. The spell was written right there and with it was a list of the properties of the spell. There had also been a clause he had not realized. The spell had to end by the sixteenth anniversary of the day it was cast. Things did not end well if the spell was not ended. His mother's spidery scrawl didn't say exactly what would happen but knowing his mother and her experiments, Randal could guess.

There was a reason that they went through so many house elves.

Sixteen years. That meant that he had 2 years left.

He scooped the book from the floor and frantically flipped through it. The counter wasn't here. He cursed. His mother had a bad habit of scrawling spells all over her personal journals. It could be anywhere. And her handwriting... He shuddered.

Randal looked slowly around the room and at all the books. There was nothing else to be done.

Randal picked up a book and began to read.

Outside of his room, her shoes held in her hand, Danni snuck down the hallway, down the stairs and out the door into the night.

She didn't come back, her legs wobbly, her make-up smeared and her hosiery torn, until dawn.

And, just like every other time, no one but Fred noticed.

* * *

_**May 19th, 2012 Ministry of Magic, London**_

Arthur Weasley could count on his hands the number of times that his wife forewent the floo or messages via owls and just showed up at his work.

And every time had been a bit of an emergency or something exciting.

Such as a few times where she marched in and announced she was pregnant.

So when she came flying in the door of his department, hair wild and still untying her apron, his jaw almost hit the floor. He sank into the chair closest to him and stared at his wife.

"You _**cannot**_ be pregnant." he blurted. She blinked.

"No. I can't." she agreed. "And I'm not."

He stood and, ignoring the looks of his coworkers, ushered her into his office. As he closed the door, he heard one of his staff saying, "You have to admit that the old guy's apparently still got it!" He grinned and closed the door fully. He turned to his wife and lost the grin. "What's wrong?"

She was twisting the apron and he realized that she probably didn't even consciously realize it was on. "Arthur, it's Charlie." He sat down, a coppery taste filling his mouth. Yesterday had been the anniversary of Mia and Fiona's deaths and not only had they not heard from their second eldest, but he had disappeared from the reserve, yelling over his shoulder at his coworkers that he had to go to Ireland.

"What is it?" He almost didn't recognize his own voice. It was quiet and tight.

"Oh! Oh, nothing like that!" Molly took her husband's hands in hers. "Charlie is alive! I promise! Nor is he arrested or anything like that!" Arthur felt the band around his chest loosen and he took a very shaky breath. "Arthur, he called a bit ago and he was just frantic. It's a miracle."

"What?" Arthur asked cautiously.

"The investigator that looked into the fire." There was no need to tell him what fire. "He was corrupt and lazy. He botched it. He actually made up lies to make his life easier and because it was just a blood traitor and some muggles that died! He was let go not long after and they have had to go through every single one of the cases he has ever touched." Arthur frowned hard. "He worked there for thirty years. They hadn't reached Mia and Fiona but Charlie went to Ireland to ask Valentine and Jack some questions. One thing led to another and Valentine called in a couple of favors from some friends in the department and Arthur, Fiona's body wasn't found." Arthur blinked a couple of times.

"They found five bodies in the building. Mia's was burned beyond recognition but she was in the apartment. The other four were in surrounding apartments and were identified as some of her neighbors. But Fiona's body... the story was that it had been so hot and she was so little that her bones were turned to ash. But there are too many questions there." She shook her head. "I don't know everything and some of what I do know is confusing but there it is. Charlie says that there is a very good chance that his daughter is alive."

Arthur sat there, processing everything that his wife had said.

"Is the chance good?" he asked finally.

"I don't know but any chance is better than none." Molly sat down in the chair across from Arthur.

Arthur nodded slowly. "Where will we start searching?" he asked. They would be searching for one girl that had been missing in the world for twelve years. It was quite literally a needle in a haystack.

Molly smiled at him. "We're heading to Ireland in the morning. We'll start from there."

The next morning, Valentine Larkin smiled warmly at all of the new arrivals in her house.

"Plenty of room! Come in! Come in!" she called. "James! Ethan! Sebastien! Henri! Come get luggage!" Immediately, her sons appeared and took bags from the new arrivals. "Well, come on. We have a little command center set up in here." She ushered the new arrivals into the formal dining room. They all stopped and blinked at the various people seated around the large table, papers, parchments and maps spread out before them. A girl with lime green hair and multiple piercings was carefully going over a set of maps. A pale man with studs through his eyebrows and scars up his arms was flipping through a set of papers. Charlie sat beside two women that were literally connected at the hip, discussing whatever papers were in their hands. All around the room, some of the most colorful people any of them had ever seen mixed with regular looking people.

"The circus showed up late last night." Jack explained. "Rikko is making more coffee and Daniel is somewhere around here. And we have tea over here."

Charlie looked up and smiled at them, a real smile. "Hello, all! Grab some maps and come on in! Someone explain what we're doing to my family."

"Cross referencing sightings of Death Eaters after the war and trying to find any abandoned babies in those areas." A brunette announced. She swished across the room, her arms full of papers. "I'm Sheridan Larkin. You're in my group. We're over here." She handed all the papers to Bill and turned. She was obviously a woman that knew how attractive she was and was used to it. She seemed to ooze sex appeal. She also seemed to have gained her mother's ability to take charge because as soon as she was done handing over the papers, she had all of them working industriously.

They all worked together for the next few hours, surprised at how many abandoned children there were in the world. The clock had just chimed 4 in the afternoon when the sound of humming began to penetrate the noise. The sound came closer and closer, growing in volume until it was right outside the door.

They all looked at the door. A ethereal blond stood there, twisting her skirt in her hands. She was gazing at a point across the room and seemed to not even be paying attention to any of them as she hummed. It was hard to place at first but she seemed to be humming "Pop Goes the Weasel".

Valentine stood slowly. "Alessa? Luvie, what are you doing?" Then she stopped short as she got a better look at her daughter. "Ah crap. Jack!" Her husband looked up and cursed. He came to his feet and moved cautiously toward his daughter.

"Ah, Lessy, darlin' what did you do?" he whispered.

The girl began swaying, her voice taking on a sing-song, rasping quality. "All around the mulberry bush, the hunter chased the weasels." Her eyes were blank as she switched the direction she was swaying. "London Bridge was falling down, falling down, falling down, poor Forgotten Lady. Found the key and locked her up, locked her up, locked her up. Found the key and locked her up, poor Forgotten Lady."

"What's wrong with her?" George breathed, staring at the girl.

"She's a Seer." Sheridan replied, her face hard but her eyes worried. "She forced it. She only does this when she forces them. She wanted to help."

The redhead that had been introduced as Noelle looked up as she sorted through a box of belongings. "She was rooting around through here. She and Madeline both. Where _**is**_ Maddy?"

As if summoned, they heard footsteps coming closer. A girl identical to the first blond stopped beside her sister. She began rocking back and forth, her hands clenched in fists, her nails driving into her palms so hard that drops of blood were beginning to well up around her knuckles.

"Here we go." muttered Arianna.

"Sins of the mothers are paid for by the sons. Sins of the mother are paid for by the sons." the girl chanted, her voice as fast and frantic as her sister's was sing-song. "Hunted them down by the light of the moon. Ran them down. The hidden and the forgotten. Ran them down and stole their lives. The emerald fell into the blood."

As she chanted, the other girl continued to sway, singing. "Last night as I slept on my pillow, last night as I slept on my bed, last night as I slept on my pillow, I dreamed that my Bonnie was dead. Bring back, bring back, oh bring back my Bonnie to me." Charlie watched them, goosebumps raising on his arms. "Cry, Baby Bunting, Daddy went a'hunting. Found the little kitty's den, wrapped up the baby and was gone again."

"The Forgotten and the Stolen. The Forgotten and the Stolen. He hunted them down. No matter how far and how fast they ran." the other continued chanting, rocking faster. Blood was dripping from her fists. "Little fox, little fox. The hounds were on you and you never knew. Tear you apart and rebuild you as he wanted. Silly little foxes. The hunter was at your door!" She started laughing, tears pouring down her cheeks. Her humourless laughter was chilling, harsh and mad. "And you let him in!" she screamed. "You let him in! You let him in! Silly stupid foxes! You let the hunter in your den! Blood coats you and you wear it like a cloak!" She pressed her hands onto her face, smearing blood down her forehead, nose and cheeks down to her chin.

"Ladybug ladybug! Fly away home! Your house is on fire and you're whole world is gone!" The singing had raised to a shriek. And then, they both stopped moving or making any noise. Without looking, their hands reached out and clasped together. Their heads tilted together, golden strands of hair mingling together as they spoke in unison.

"In the time of birth, they will return. Into your hands, the greatest treasures return. The dead shall be named. The spirits gain their rest. All shall be reset. The missing piece shall fall into place." The blond with blood covering her face slumped against the other as the final one slowly let her eyes close, her voice barely audible as she began to sing again.

"His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain, Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane. Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave, so Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave." Her eyes flew open while her voice was harsh and very loud suddenly. "Open your eyes!" With that, her eyes rolled back in her head and both girls folded to the ground.

Before they reached the floor, their father and eldest brother had them in their arms.

"Upstairs. Now." Valentine hurried around the table. "Someone got what they were saying?"

"Every word, Mum." James nodded.

"Good lad. You know what to do." Valentine disappeared through the doorway.

"What does she mean? What do we do?" Harry asked.

Sheridan slapped down a heavy stack of books. "Fine those nursery rhymes and where they come from. Find them in their entirety. Sometimes, the answer is in what they didn't say. Damn, I hate it when they use nursery rhymes."

"And folk music." Noelle agreed. "Or how about that time they were predicting things via ABBA?" All of the Larkins' shuddered.

"Those were dark days." the youngest son, Ethan, agreed, looking at the page his brother had scribbled the twins' words on.

"You know they did those on purpose to mess with you, right, Ellie?" Lauren asked.

"Don't call me 'Ellie' and yeah, I know." Noelle muttered.

"The, uh, the last part." Charlie forced himself to look down at the paper. "Mia had a dragon named Puff. He disappeared after she died."

"Mm. You may be finding a dragon then." Sheridan shook her head slowly. "Question is how does it play into Fiona? Or does it at all? Hell, did she mean a literal cave or a figurative one?"

"Does that happen often?" Ron asked, looking toward the door that they had taken the twins through.

"Not really." the youngest redhead, Sebastien said thoughtfully. "Don't bet against them though. But things like that? No. They wanted to help. Saw them whispering earlier. So they decided to do this, I suppose."

"How do they... force a vision?" Hermione asked.

The siblings all shrugged. "Every Seer is different." Sheridan explained carefully. "Their techniques for, well, seeing. How they deliver the prophesies. Everything. Maddy and Lessy have absolutely no training but what was in their mother's old journals and trial and error. They can control it to a degree but they have to, well, release the tension once in awhile. Seers can go mad if they don't. They can also go mad if they do it too often. Hell, we all learned about this through trial and error, too."

"If their mother had lived, she would have taught them." Arianna muttered. "As is, she managed to leave detailed entries in her journals."

"Chances are for this one, they came downstairs and smuggled something that used to belong to Fiona out of the box." The eldest Larkin daughter, Bridget, said.

"Most likely a blanket that she had been wrapped in or a toy." her twin sister, Sylvia agreed.

"They would have meditated for a bit, focusing on it." Lauren Larkin sighed. "Don't know really how they do it but they'll be out of commission for at least a day now."

"I think that they really just wanted to get out of dish duty tonight." Noelle quipped. "Those brats!" The siblings all laughed but their expressions were still tight with worry.

"What you saw only happens when they force it." Sylvia explained. "Normally, if they spout out a prophesy, it's nice and normal and, you know, like what Seers usually do. But they force it and things get a little crazy."

Thirty minutes after the twins made their prophesies, Valentine returned, her face strained.

"They'll be fine. Although Alessa is muttering about how she has to take a trip and wanted me to remind Sheridan to practice her cello some more." She placed a blanket, a pair of baby socks and a photograph on the table. "They went all out for this one." She chuckled and then sobered suddenly. "And Charlie, take a week off work."

"Why?" he asked his friend.

"Because Madeline said to remind you that you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup."

"Ah, she likes you." laughed Sheridan, poking the redhead in the arm. "She quoted a bumper sticker for you."

"They're livewires at the moment." Valentine explained gently. "I don't completely understand Seers, no one does, I think. But what they did was basically rip a hole in whatever barrier that's in place to keep us from doing that. Usually, they just get peeks through what I guess you would call windows. It'll take a little while until that barrier's back completely in place for them."

"So they're up there just spouting off prophesies?" Everyone in the room looked up, some speculatively.

"No. They're asleep having horrible nightmares that they won't remember when they wake up but that will haunt them for days or even weeks." Sheridan snapped.

"They adore you, Charlie, and wanted to help." Noelle whispered to the stricken man. "Don't feel bad. This was their choice. And they'll be fine."

"I understand who they were talking about when they talked about the Stolen but who is the Forgotten?" Arianna said suddenly. "And I get that they were talking about Mia when Alessa was talking about Bonnie. But the Forgotten... that throws me. Who was forgotten? You didn't forget Mia and you didn't even know about Fiona. And what was that about the emerald falling into blood? What does an emerald have to do with anything? I hate prophetic moments. Why can't a Seer just tell you exactly what they mean?"

"Because they are sadistic?" Noelle suggested.

"Just Maddy." Arianna grumbled.

"The sins of the mother may refer to something that Molly did." Sheridan spoke up, frowning. "Any idea what you could have done that would have angered someone?"

Molly was pale at the thought that any of this was her fault. "I don't know." she murmured. Bill squeezed her shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Mum. Whoever did this is probably not sane."

"Hand me the list of Death Eaters that we never found." Ron said, holding out his hand. He scanned for a moment, before looking up.

"I think I know who it was and why." he announced.

"Who?" Charlie demanded.

"Rodolphus Lestrange was never found." Ron said, putting the papers down. "Mum killed Bellatrix."

"The day after the battle, an Auror was found in a copse of wood near the battlefield." Harry said slowly. "His wand was gone and the clearing showed signs of a magic exploding but the auror was unharmed."

"Mia was talking about a man that she kept seeing at odd moments." Valentine said suddenly. "She said it was weird but she thought it was just some homeless guy and coincidence. She upped her wards and changed most of her habits. She had a lot on her mind though. She thought she was just being paranoid." Valentine chewed her lips. "I should have insisted that she come stay with us. Especially after she changed all her habits and kept seeing him anyway."

"He hunted her." Charlie breathed. "He found out about her and he hunted her."

"According to reports, Rodolphus Lestrange was in charge of paperwork." Hermione said. "He had a habit of going through every piece of paperwork that came through the Ministry. He would have seen her birth certificate. And he would have seen her name listed for Hogwarts."

"Mia died because of me." Charlie said, his voice hollow.

"No." Harry told him. "Mia died because of a madman. This is on him, not you."

"You can't blame yourself for things that are out of your control. You just have to focus on the things that you can control and affect." Sheridan patted his shoulder. "Trust me. This is over a decade of therapy talking."

"One cannot truly control evil nor can a good man truly predict what an evil one will do." Rikko Kelley had her eyes closed and her forehead resting on her fist.

Arianna sighed, tapping a pencil against the paper in front of her. "Why can't they just say 'If you go here on this day, a piano will fall on your head' or something simple like that?" she muttered, still trying to work out the mysteries of Seers.

"Because all the Seers in existence want to irritate you, luv." James teased. She stuck her tongue out at him and then went back to tapping her pencil.

"Emeralds... emeralds..." Noelle leaned back in her seat. "Okay. Emeralds are a green jewel. Green jewels. Green jewe-" She sat up and frowned. "Julie Green? Wasn't that your friend's name? The one that disappeared?"

Valentine sank into her seat, pale. "Julie was supposed to meet us that night. She never showed. Do you think he killed her, too?" Jack put his hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe they were finally telling us what happened to Julie." he said softly. "Maybe we'll finally find Julie."

"What I keep coming back to is how often they both referred to the Forgotten." Arianna said. "Maddy was screaming about her and Lessy was talking about her, too. From what we know, Mia didn't let him in her life or her home but Maddy said this woman did. 'Silly little foxes' she said. If this person wasn't important, they wouldn't have mentioned her. So who is The Forgotten?"

* * *

_**June 1st, 2012 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Audrina surged to her feet, clapping and yelling as Danni caught the Snitch.

"They're in the play-off's!" she bellowed and hugged Charlene. "They're in the play-off's!"

Randal beamed as his daughter landed and was mobbed by her teammates. His baby was heading to the National League Play-off's. She yelled triumphantly, her fist held high above her head as she was engulfed in a mob of people. All that was visible was her tiny fist still clutching the Snitch.

That night, as the family and the families of the other people associated with the team celebrated, Peter looked at Randal.

"So where the hell does she get this talent from?" he asked laughingly. "I've never even seen you on a broom!"

Randal remembered the last time he had been on a broom. He had been chasing Harry Bloody Potter and had almost died. That had ended his desire to ever be on a broom again.

"She's just gifted." he said smoothly.

Damned if he knew where she got that gift from but he was alright with that.

His daughter smiled at him and he smiled back. She hadn't been herself for some time now. She had a nose stud now and wore black around her eyes. In fact, she wore black everything these days. Black and tight. Except for her hair. There were purple streaks in it. Sometimes, those streaks of purple were the only thing that wasn't black on his daughter.

Audrina called how she dressed "Goth-Punk".

Randal called it annoying. He had hated it when Bella decided to dress like a mad woman on her way to a funeral.

The thing that frightened him was that it seemed to be contagious. The others had taken to wearing the same things and, God help him, one of them actually had a piercing in his eyebrow. (He was really hoping that P.L. got over that soon. It bothered him a lot.) They had even put different colors in their hair.

As he thought about the fact that his 13 year old daughter had turned herself into some sort of black wearing, angst filled teenager, he heard a shriek.

"Jason! When did you pierce your tongue?!" Charlene howled. Randal flinched. A pierced tongue?! How did he eat?!

Suddenly, Danielle's pierced nose didn't seem too bad.

A month later, when he saw her picture in the paper with her teammates, announcing that the New Orleans Charms would be playing in the National Championship, he had to admit that she didn't look like the girl he had always known. And, to be honest, she did look quite pretty. Surrounded by her friends, their arms around each other, laughing and grinning, his little girl looked more like the woman she would become than the child she had been.

It made him feel an odd mixture of pride and sadness.

And it also made him more determined that ever to find that spell.

* * *

_**August 23rd, 2012 Dublin, Ireland**_

"Where are the kids?" Charlie asked Jack, noting the strange silence in the house. Jack groaned.

"Lower your voice." he said, ushering his friend from the floo to Jack's personal parlor. "She'll hear you."

"Who will?" Charlie had just made a series of floo jumps to the Larkin House to speak with an investigator that the Larkin Family had hired.

"Val." Jack groaned. He walked to a small bar and poured himself a drink. Charlie nodded at his lifted eyebrows and Jack poured him one as well. "You know that therapist that advised the kids to work on their... _**issues**_ through music?" Charlie nodded. "Well, they did. And some of them were really good at it. Sheridan has a cello and I swear to God, I have never heard music like what she plays."

"They have a band, don't they?" Charlie asked.

"Aye. And they've been playing at bars and festivals and the like. Well, they got signed." Jack fell into a seat. "They can go professional."

"That's wonderful!" Charlie smiled. Jack managed a smile in return.

"Aye. Wonderful." Jack said. "And they're opening for some American Singer. It's a great opportunity. And they jumped at the chance."

"And what's the problem?" Charlie frowned.

"They **_all_** went."

Charlie blinked. "All of them are in the band?"

"No." Jack shuddered. "God help us when some of them try to make music. Bastien couldn't carry a tune if you handed him a bucket. Sounds like howling no matter what he does. No, the ones that can't play went along to keep the others in line. They even came up with job titles. Head Roadie. Manager. Assistant Manager. Sound Technician. You get the picture."

Charlie nodded slowly.

"Well, they're all gone for at least three months and maybe longer. All of them. Every single child in the house is gone." Jack waited. Charlie stared and then frowned to show his confusion. "Charlie, it's been twenty years since we haven't had a child in the house. Ethan and Sebastien are only sixteen." Understanding was dawning on Charlie. "Val... Val isn't handling it well."

"How bad are we talking?" Charlie asked.

"She wants to have another baby." Charlie's eyebrows lifted. "I know." Jack nodded. "Actually, she wants two because she says that thirteen is an unlucky number. And she's moping. Val does not mope."

Charlie winced and patted his friend on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, mate."

Jack nodded his acceptance of the sympathy. "I figured we would work our way into having an empty house. Not all of them at once." Charlie saw that Valentine was not the only one having a problem with the empty house. "There was just no warning."

Jack exhaled slowly and then forced a smile. "So. Let's go work on getting one into your house. Have you thought about what you're going to do when we find Fiona? Where you're going to live?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah. I have, actually. I'll probably transfer to Wales again and get a house. Wales is between my family and Daniel and Rikko. That's as far as I've gotten."

Jack clapped him on his shoulder and stood. "It'll be good to have you closer." With that, the two men went to meet the investigator.

* * *

_**August 26th, 2012 Walt Disney World, Florida**_

A commentator was belting out a play by play commentary and actually being heard over the yells of the crowd, the pounding of the rain and the booming of the thunder.

Randal watched intently as his baby slammed her shoulder into the opposing Seeker, sending the boy spiraling away. Clarice yelled in triumph as she deflected yet another quaffle and the entire crowd yelled as Fred and P.L. slammed the bludgers back and forth between them before Fred slammed it at a Chaser. Brandon and Jason were in perfect unison in their flying as they sped around the pitch with a girl from their school named Sophie Hollis.

It was the National Championship Game of Quidditch and it had been nasty from the beginning when a Chaser attempted to put Clarice through the hoop she was guarding and then tried to rip Fred from her broom.

The New Orleans Team had lost their patience and begun to retaliate in like.

"Go, Clarice!" bellowed Peter as Clarice caught the Quaffle and threw it with all her might at a passing Chaser.

The other Seeker grabbed Danni's braid and almost pulled her off her broom. She bellowed a few words that Randal pretended that he didn't understand before driving her elbow into the boy's face. Blood spurted from his crushed nose and she yelled at him angrily before giving in to her emotions with an obscene gesture.

"That's your sweet little baby." Audrina chortled as a referee called a time out so that the other seeker could get his nose fixed. Danni sat on her broom, staring down at him with a look of complete and utter disdain.

Randal just smiled. "He started it." he said serenely as a referee insisted that he had not seen what had happened and then continued the game.

Randal watched, his eyes narrowed as the war between the two Seekers continued. Fred and P.L. flanked them, deflecting bludgers as best they could and, when possible, sending them at the other Seeker. Fred bellowed in rage when the other Seeker punched Danni in the face. She flew backwards off her broom. Fred slammed the back of her broom into the Seeker's face, knocking him off of his as she shot down toward her friend.

Danni was falling in a strange way. It almost looked as though she was trying to make herself fall faster, keeping one arm stretched out before her while the other was pressed against her body. Then, she made a fist and changed her body's position so that she was no longer pointing straight at the ground.

The crowd yelled in fear as Randal leapt to his feet, his heart skipping. Fred grabbed Danni, almost coming off her own broom, yelling in pain and exertion. P.L. was suddenly right beside her and grabbed the back of Danni's jersey. The other Seeker was grabbed by a referee. Danni landed lightly, blood streaming from her busted lip, panting. Fred and P.L. landed next to her and a moment later, the other members of the team landed and advanced on the ashen faced Seeker. Fred was shaking the arm that she had used to grab Danni and P.L. watched her, concern in his eyes before turning to face forward again.

Danni stopped right in front of him, held up her left hand, displaying a fluttering Snitch and then, while he gaped at it, drove her fist into the boy's face. He flailed backwards and landed on the ground.

"You little bitch!" she spat, looking down at him.

"You could have killed her, you asshat!" Jason yelled, leaping on top of the boy.

The other team landed and an all-out brawl erupted.

"Mean right hook your girl has, Randal." David commented.

Randal smiled as officials tried in vain to separate the brawling teams. Clarice, shrieking like a banshee, was holding onto the hair of a large Beater with her legs wrapped around his waist as he spun around and around, trying to get her off his back. Brandon and Jason were rolling around on the ground with two Chasers while Fred grappled with a Keeper, P.L. punched a Beater, Sophie was kicking the final Chaser and Danni continued her battle with the Seeker.

The brawl had bled into the stands as parents, fans and everyone in-between got into the spirit of things. Nadine and Audrina scrambled to erect shield charms and keep their spouses from joining in.

"It _**is**_ the Happiest Place on Earth." Randal beamed, eating a handful of popcorn.

Thirty minutes later, the winning team stood on a platform with a frazzled looking official, accepting the cup. They beamed innocently for the cameras.

The attempt at innocence was wasted since Danni's lip was still swollen and bruised and her jersey was torn, Brandon and Fred had black eyes, P.L.'s cheek was cut and swollen, Clarice was clutching a handful of hair in addition to her bruised nose and Sophie was limping and holding her ribs.

"Dad, can we go ride Space Mountain now?" Danni asked, her eyes sparkling, as soon as they joined their family.

Randal put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "Anything for my little girl."

She smiled sweetly at him and then turned to where the other team was. "Hey!" she yelled. They all looked at her. "We're gonna go ride Space Mountain. Wanna go?" The Seeker that she had spent most of the day trying to kill and trying to keep from being killed by blinked and then nodded.

"Yeah. Sounds fun." he replied. He walked over and offered his hand. "Mike Finnley."

Danni accepted his hand and smiled. "Danni Montague. Hey, that dive you did at one point right before I knocked into you and distracted you the second time? That was awesome. Could you teach me to do that?"

He nodded. "Yeah, if you'll teach me how to do that barrel roll thing without getting dizzy. And by the way," He rubbed his jaw and smiled ruefully. "Where'd you learn to throw a punch?"

This was all it took for the other members of the two teams to approach one another and begin discussing sharing different moves.

As they walked away amidst flashing cameras and excited reporters, Randal noticed that the frazzled officials looked dumbfounded and ready to start crying or screaming... or both.

That evening, they all stood together, watching the fireworks with delighted looks on all of their faces. Danni looked at her father with a huge smile on her face.

"I am so happy right now." she announced to him, slipping her hand into his.

Randal smiled down at her. "Me, too, Baby Girl. Me, too."

The next day, his happiness fled when he walked past Brandon, Jason and Fred in the Magic Kingdom. He glanced at Fred when she suddenly whistled very loud and very shrill.

"Do stop that." he requested. She looked very, very nervous.

He narrowed his eyes and ignored that feeling of dread growing in his stomach.

He glanced at Jason. He was frantically hitting keys on his cell phone.

Brandon was edging toward the corner that Randal was about to go around.

That feeling was too intense to be ignored.

He stepped around the corner and almost screamed.

It was the most horrible thing he had ever seen.

In an instant, every moment of Azkaban faded from memory. Everything he had seen as a Death Eater ceased to exist. In an instant, he saw and knew true horror.

His daughter, his pretty teenage daughter, was standing with her back against a wall, one arm crossed beneath her breasts while her other hand twirled a lock of hair, her foot pressed against the wall, even with her knee, a small smile on her glamoured face as she peeked up at, God help him, a teenage boy.

A teenage boy that just screamed "Danger!" to every paternal instinct in him.

Black hair that was hanging negligently over his forehead and was a bit long at the back. He was wearing a black t-shirt proclaiming the name of some band and was wearing dark jeans and what looked like biker boots.

Randal began making choking noises.

Danielle lifted her chin and tossed her hair over her shoulder before pushing away from the wall.

"We'll see about that. But I think I can be persuaded to have dinner with you. Maybe." she said in response to something the boy had said. Her voice was... throaty. Then, she laughed and began strolling away. She stopped short, seeing her father and smiled.

"Hi, Daddy." she said in a perfectly normal voice. Then she frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Gah." Randal managed.

Audrina flew around the corner, red curls flying and her cheeks flushed. "Randal! Hi! What a coincidence finding you here!"

"I think he's choking on his own tongue!" Danielle cried, hurrying toward her father. "He's purple!" She began pounding on his back. The boy looked startled but also looked like he recognized what Randal's problem was. He began backing away, his eyes rather wide.

Audrina stepped in front of Randal. "Randal! Stop it!" She smacked his forehead with her palm. "Don't you pretend to be having a stroke! I know better!" Randal choked once more and then pointed one shaking finger at the boy. Audrina seemed to understand.

"Randal, I would like you to meet Ethan Larkin. He and his band are opening for me on my next tour." Randal choked out another noise. "Yes, Randal. He is sixteen years old." Randal gurgled. "Yes. He is the singer in a band." Randal pointed a trembling finger toward the boy's shoes. Audrina frowned. "Well, I don't know. Hold on." She turned. "Ethan, darling, do you by any chance have a need for those boots?"

Ethan smiled. "I have a motorcycle. You know, like the muggles? My sisters, Sheridan and Noelle, bought it for me as a present for my 16th birthday." He looked at Danni. "You'll like them. The rest of the band is down in Miami getting ready for the show next week. Sheridan, Noelle and I came up here to actually meet Audrina." He grinned. "And because we wanted to go to Disney World. Our brothers, Sebastien and Henri are here, too."

"And I can't wait to meet them all." Audrina turned again. "Why don't you and I go have a spot of tea, Randal?" She began leading him away. "Be good!" she called over her shoulder to the kids.

Over and over, a single thought raged through Randal's head:

His daughter was probably going on a date with a teenage boy that was in a band and drove a motorcycle.

And to make it all worse, that evening, Peter, David and Marcel all looked at him sadly and sympathetically, in one case clapping him on the shoulder and asking if he'd like a beer while the cursed women all giggled like it was the funniest thing that they had ever seen.

Randal started thinking more about that convent idea and wondered if they let fathers deposit their daughters there even if they weren't Catholic.


	5. Chapter 5

_***I own nothing, I get nothing, all that usual stuff. I am trying to get one more part out before my birthday on Sunday. Here's hoping I manage it!***_

_**January 22nd, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

"Mom, I know! God knows that I know! But I _**deserve**_ to know where I come from!" Fred dogged Audrina's hurried steps through the hallway, her voice echoing. Randal sat quietly, listening against his will to the heated discussion going on outside his door. He turned a page in his book and tried to read, even though he knew that this book didn't have the answers any more than any of the others had. He knew that he should turn on the radio or at the very least choose another book but found himself pulled from what even he realized was an obsession by the conversation going on outside his door.

"I can't, Fred! I just _**can't**_! I want to! God knows I want to but I can't!" Audrina's voice was distressed.

Moments like this were the moments that you could tell that Princess Audrina and Tomboy Fred were actually mother and daughter: They were two of the most melodramatic beings in existence.

"Then let me go to where I can get the answers!" Fred sounded desperate. "Mum, _**please**_! You know how bad it is out there now! God, that little slime Scott actually tried to push Martin Anders in front of traffic just because he's a Pureblood! And we all know he did it on purpose but no one will do anything about it because of those damned stories!" Randal blinked. Why hadn't he heard of this? "However bad it is, it has _**got**_ to be safer than here!"

"No! I won't let you! No!" Audrina yelled. "I lost them all! All of them, Fred! Everyone I loved in that life is gone! Everyone but you! And I will be damned if I let you go, too!"

"You don't have a choice, Mum." Fred sounded tearful but resolute. "I deserve to know who my father was. I deserve to know why I don't know him or his family, my family, and I deserve to know what they did to you to make it so you can't even say their names! I deserve it just like Danni does!"

"I have no say in what Randal does or does not tell Danni." Audrina snapped.

"Yeah and look at her. For God's sake, Mum! She's not the person she was when we were kids! And we both know what she does when she's not here or at practice!" Fred snarled. "She looks lost more often than not and I think it's because she doesn't know her past. Mum, you saw her at the last Dueling Club. She was brutal! She almost literally slaughtered everyone that they put her against!" She snorted and managed to convey disgust. "And the crowd ate it up. The judges were drooling. She looked sick with herself when she realized what she had done."

Randal blinked. What was wrong with his baby? Nothing! He would have noticed! He would have! She was tired, maybe, and there was the normal teenage angst. But that was nothing serious.

And since when did she do Dueling Club? She was taking ballet... wasn't she? No. Wait. She had taken ballet classes until she was ten and then stopped. She had also taken piano.

She still played the piano, didn't she?

He tapped his index finger on the top of his book. She would have mentioned that she wasn't taking piano anymore... he was sure of it. Last week, when they went out and she got her newest pet, she would have mentioned. Of course, leave it to Danielle to ignore all the lovely owls and such to pick out a ragged, battered looking raven. She had named it "Jeremy" and cooed over it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It had been as bad as when she was cooing over those stray cats that hung around the back patio, Justin, Jenner, Nicodemus and Brutus.

Yes, just last week. They had lunch, too.

Wait. No. They had gone Christmas Shopping. So it couldn't have been last week. Blast! When had it been? Well, not that long ago.

"She's just now coming back to us! And I think that's only because we all have to stick together now. You're the closest thing she has to a mother! We all know it! Mum, please. Let's go somewhere. Go someplace different. Let me find out whatever it is that's been hidden away. Please. Please, Mum. Randal will listen to you! Tell him about what's going on and about Danni and get him to help!"

Why would they have to stick together? Randal didn't understand.

"You have to admit that getting Randal out of here would be a good idea." Fred added. Randal felt somewhat affronted. Why was she pulling _**him**_ into this? There was nothing wrong with him! Or Danni! "He never leaves that damned room anymore! All he does is sit there and read and read and read and God only knows what he's reading!"

"It's none of our business." Audrina sounded frustrated and angry.

"God, you're not going to listen. Even if you could tell me, I don't think you would." Fred now was accusing. "All because you want to keep me safe. Well, it isn't safe out there! Not at all!" Randal heard her angry footsteps heading away and then the front door open and shut.

A moment passed and then there was a knock at the door.

"Come in, Audrina." Randal said. No sense in pretending he didn't hear what was happening.

She looked older than her years and her shoulders had a defeated slump to them. Randal closed his book and stood.

"It isn't supposed to be this hard." she said plaintively. "I never wanted to be the one to make the hard choices. I never wanted to be the one to make the decisions. I never wanted to be the one to say no and refuse a person's heart's desire but here I am. I'm doing all those things."

Randal exhaled slowly and then indicated a chair.

"I was too young when I had Fred." Audrina said softly. "I resented her at first. I was little more than a child and I had a child. I didn't get to play and I didn't get to be a child any longer. Granted, there was a war and my family died and everything but I was irrational. Stupid. So stupid. I probably would have foisted her off on a family member if I could have. I was all alone and that made it so much worse. I love her. I loved her then and I love her now but I was a stupid, silly child." Her chin trembled. "It seemed a relief to have someone tell me what to do. I knew this was a bad idea. I knew the spell was a bad idea. I knew he was overreacting. I knew it but he seemed so sure and I just didn't want to make the decision." Tears welled in her eyes and began to flow down her cheeks. "I should have fought it. I should have followed my own instincts. But part of me thought that he just wanted to get rid of me. And the other part of me would have agreed to anything he said. I would have gone along with whatever he wanted just if he would make the choices and make it all better. But it went wrong! And I don't know how to fix it! No one told me how to fix it if it went wrong!" She covered her face with her hands and sobbed brokenly. Randal stared at her for a moment and then haltingly moved to her side and, kneeling down, put his arms around her.

"No one is really ready for a child." he said quietly. "Everyone is selfish to a degree. You are not a bad person. You did not abandon her. You stayed with her and you did what you could to support and love her. What you may have wanted was not what you did. Fred loves you."

"She hates me!" Audrina sobbed.

"She loves you." Randal said firmly. "She is frustrated but she will understand one day. Someday, she will see all that you have done for her." He rocked her slowly, letting her cry on his shoulder.

When she was done, she stumbled to her feet. "I have to go make sure that Fred actually is next door and not on the run to Tijuana." Randal smiled softly. "I believe Danni is already there. Next door, not Tijuana." she added. Randal frowned. He could have sworn that Danni was in her room. Audrina didn't notice his frown.

Randal looked around his room, slowly. It was dusty in here. And there were more books on the floor in stacks than there were on the shelves.

And what had Fred meant about Danni? There was nothing wrong with his Danielle! And what was happening outside the house? Surely it was just rumors still. Certainly there would be nothing wrong. Not **_really_** wrong.

Starting tomorrow, he would pay more attention, he decided. He would sit Danielle down and have a nice long talk with her to see what was wrong. And he would have her tell him what was happening outside.

He picked up a new book. Tomorrow. But tonight, he had a new idea on how to fix what he had done. Tomorrow was soon enough.

A piece of paper fluttered to the ground. He scooped it up and frowned. It was a list of investments and deposits made into their accounts. Odd. He didn't remember doing any of these. But they looked sound. He shrugged and pushed it into another stack of papers. He must have been tired. Even his signature looked off somehow.

If he had picked up one of the newspapers stacked beside his door, he would have seen his pretty teenage daughter dancing in the arms of a handsome young man, her kohl lined eyes closing as she leaned back in his arms.

If he had looked farther in the stack, he would have seen story after story of escalating tensions and crimes against Purebloods and anyone that was suspected of sympathizing with Purebloods.

If he had walked down to where his family sat around a dinner table, he would have heard stories of harassment at the children's school. He would have heard of rumors about "secret" societies forming to battle against the "pureblood evil".

And he would have agreed with Fred. New Orleans was not safe for them anymore.

But he didn't. Instead, he just read his book and searched for an answer that was just out of his reach.

Because there was always tomorrow.

* * *

_**February 14th, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

_**6:17PM**_

"Daddy, I'm going out!" Danielle called from the front of the house. Randal looked up from his newspaper and then walked toward his daughter's voice.

"When will you be home?" he asked.

She didn't look her age. She looked so much older. Her top wasn't tight but it flattered her. Her pants were leather and were most certainly tight. She wore leather things (cuffs, maybe?) on her tiny wrists and high heeled boots on her feet that added a couple of inches to her height. Her hair fell down her back, the purple streaks framing her face.

"Not too late." she said, adjusting her cuffs. He blinked and realized that those weren't exactly cuffs around her wrists. One was a holster for her wand. He blinked.

"Where did you get that?" he asked, cocking his head.

She chuckled. "You got it for me, Daddy. You got all of us one, remember?" He didn't but he nodded anyway.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She smiled. "Dancing." He smiled as well. She was so like her mother. She loved to dance.

She walked back and kissed his cheek. She was wearing perfume. When did his baby start wearing perfume?

"What?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

He shook his head, bemused. "When did you grow up?"

She laughed. "Geez, Dad. I'm not grown up. I'm fourteen. Won't be fifteen for a couple more months. I think you have a little while before you can turn my bedroom into a study."

"Who said you get to ever move out?" he asked. She laughed and kissed his cheek again.

He laughed because he knew she thought he was joking.

"You're so beautiful." he told her honestly. "I look at you and I remember the little girl that sat on my lap and laughed and drooled on my shirt when she fell asleep." He touched her cheek and she laughed. "There she is!" he teased. "I knew she was somewhere in there!"

"Stop it, Daddy." she laughed.

"I love you, Danielle." he said seriously. She smiled at him.

"I love you, too, Daddy." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I'll be back later."

He watched her from the window as she danced gracefully along the walk before pausing at the front gate. She turned for a moment, raised one hand in a gesture of farewell and disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

_**February 14th, 2012 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

_**10:27PM**_

He saw the jets of light before anything else. His eyes adjusted and he could see other forms moving through the flying debris and shadows.

And in the middle of it, he saw his daughter rise from behind a fallen tree, shoot off several spells and then duck down again.

"Pureblood scum!" a woman hissed at him, lifting her wand. Randal never gave her the chance to cast; he blasted her off her feet and then turned back toward his daughter. He didn't understand why she didn't move to a more agreeable place than where she was. This was not the most advantageous place for her to be fighting.

He saw her stance and realized that she was guarding something or someone. It made sense now. His daughter would never leave anyone behind and would, instead, stay behind to live or die with those she considered her family.

Sometimes, it really made him want to lock her away for her own safety.

He took his place beside her, sparing a quick glance at the two still, bleeding forms behind them. Fred lay half across P.L., their blood mingling together in the dirt. She looked up at him with bleary, glazed eyes. None of her injuries seemed to be life threatening but there were gashes across her face that he was sure would leave scars. What would that mean with her powers, he wondered vaguely. He couldn't tell what was wrong with the boy.

Danielle glanced his way for a brief moment before standing again and casting. He stood beside his daughter, his own spells cutting through the darkness.

There were loud pops and Audrina was on the other side of the clearing. Her face was a mask of fury, her hair flaming red and her eyes black as she slashed her wand through the air. Opposite her, Nadine roared in fury and began cursing and hexing. Marcel rolled out of the way of a curse and began casting. Charlene appeared nearly on top of one of their opponents and took him down with a punch to the jaw. As he crumpled, she began casting.

With the arrival of this support, the tide of battle turned. Soon, the spells stopped and they were left standing in the aftermath.

"Daddy." Danielle looked up at her father, a smile of relief on her face. "I knew you would come."

Randal opened his mouth to tell her that of course he came. He was her father. He would always be there but it was cut off by a jet of purple light slamming into her. She crumpled, a look of pain and shock on her face. Randal blinked, confused and reached for her. Something hot and wet was on his face and what had just happened? He lifted his hand to his face and gasped when he saw the blood there.

His daughter's blood.

He bellowed in rage, not even noticing the curse he sent hurtling toward the one that had done this. Danielle's hand fell to the ground, her own hex flying into the night.

He fell to his knees beside her, not noticing or hearing the yells and the people running to them. Danielle's eyes were wide and glassy. Her lips were moving but she wasn't making noise. Randal swallowed hard, his eyes flying over the bloody mess that was her lower body. Bone shards protruded from her right leg and blood flowed from too many points to count. He looked back at her face.

Her eyes closed and he couldn't tell if she was breathing. He looked up.

"Someone help me!" he screamed. "Danielle?! Danni? Baby, don't leave me. Please don't leave me!"

* * *

_**February 15th, 2012 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Randal ran a hand over his face, the smell of antiseptic and potions stinging his nose. How the hell had he come to be here? How had this happened?

His gaze, bleary from exhaustion, moved back to the small, pale figure in the bed. Already, blood was staining the once pristine bandages that had been changed not half an hour earlier. Freckles stood out in sharp contrast to the pale skin of his daughter's small nose and her cheekbones seemed sharper somehow. It was as if she had shrunk since she had called her goodbyes to him on her way out the door the night before.

Randal reached out and enfolded her tiny, cold hand in his much larger one and rubbed it some in an attempt to warm it. Her hand was as cold as ice.

Magical monitors kept count of her heartbeats and her breathing but Randal watched her chest in case it didn't rise again after each fall.

"Randal?" He looked at the doorway where Audrina stood, framed by harsh lighting. "Any change?"

Randal shook his head, tried to speak and then cleared his throat. "No." he said, his voice hoarse. "No change."

Audrina came closer to him, cautious. "Have you heard anything? Any news?"

"They've saved her leg but she may never... never walk, Audrina. Her leg may be useless. There was so much damage." He reached out with his free hand, refusing to release her hand, and brushed a lock of purple hair from her cheek. Her cheek was cold, too.

"She's very cold. I think that she needs another blanket." he commented. Audrina nodded and stepped back out into the hallway. A moment later, she returned with a healer bearing a blanket.

Randal focused on Danielle's face as the healer changed her bandages. Her lips were starting to get color again and he felt relieved.

"Is Fred alright?" Randal asked after the healer left.

Audrina sat on the other side of the bed and nodded. "She'll be okay. She- she'll have some scars and we're not sure how that will work with her abilities. P.L. will, too, but I think he's relieved. Maybe he won't just be the Pretty Boy now." Randal allowed himself a smile.

"Oh! I got something from the house when we ran by earlier." Audrina pulled her purse up and started rummaging through. She smiled in triumph and produced a tattered, worn stuffed dragon. She carefully placed it next to the sleeping girl and stroked her hair.

"She looks so young." Audrina whispered. "Sometimes, I forget that they aren't still babies. And then sometimes, I forget that they are still as young as they really are."

"She asks about her mother." Randal studied his daughter. "I don't know what to tell her now. She looks up at me and juts her chin out and I don't know what to tell her."

"Fred demands now." Audrina nodded slowly. "She just wants to know anything and I- I _**can't**_ tell her."

Randal smoothed Danielle's hair again. "What happened tonight, Audrina?"

"Those bastards that believe pureblooded families are to blame for everything bad in the world planned this." Audrina said softly. "One of the teachers in the school was in on it. They attacked the Valentine's Day Dance at the school, too. Brandon and Clarice were there. They're alright. Battered and bruised but alright. But students died tonight. Little Sophie from the team..." Her chin wobbled. "She died tonight." Randal closed his eyes. "The kids out in the swamps, they were taken from different points in town. P.L. and Jason were taken. Fred found out and tracked them down. She was on the phone with Sophie." She swallowed hard. "She got through to Danni. That little shit, Scott Roberts, tried to grab Danni at the club but she stomped him."

"Why didn't they call the authorities?" Randal rasped.

"They did. Danni did." Audrina said. "They were at the club because of the boy attacking Danni. They didn't listen to her. So she called us." Her chin wobbled. "I didn't hear the phone ring. We were almost too late. They called us for help and we almost didn't make it."

"How did Danni come to be out there?" he asked.

"She went after Fred. They spoke and Fred told her what she knew and Danni... Danni wouldn't leave them. They're just children." She closed her eyes. "History is repeating itself. The rolls have just switched."

Randal didn't say anything.

There was nothing that he could say.

Hours later, Randal was sitting with his eyes closed and Danni's hand still in his when he heard her moving. Audrina had come and gone and then come back again as she moved back and forth between Danni and Fred's rooms. He had thought she was with Fred again at first but, as he started to open his eyes, he heard her.

"Here, sweetheart." The sound of ice moving in a cup told him she was bringing Danni water.

"My mom wasn't there." Danni croaked. Randal stopped moving and pretended to be asleep, curious.

"What?" Audrina was frowning. Randal could hear it in her voice.

"My mom wasn't there after I got hit. I was on a beach and I thought my mom would be there, waiting for me but she wasn't." Danni continued, her voice weak. "There was a blond woman who told me she was my aunt and there was a redheaded man. I can't remember their names. They told me I had to come home now because it wasn't time for me to leave yet. He wanted me to tell you something."

"W-what?" Audrina breathed.

"He said to tell you he's proud of you. You and Fred both. And he told me a lot of other stuff but I- I can't remember all of it." She was quiet a moment. "Something about flowers. It was important but I can't remember it clearly right now. He said the flower can fix it. But he didn't say flower. He said it in French which was funny because he had an English accent. And he said to tell you he was sorry. Does that make sense?"

"I think so." Audrina whispered. "But I can't get to where that particular flower is."

Danni was quiet. "It's not just that you can't talk about your life before, is it? You can't go back to England, can you?"

Randal cracked one eye open and saw Audrina shake her head.

"So you can't end this without going to England and you can't go to England until this ends." Danni sounded bleary. "That's pretty fucked up, Aunt Audi."

Audrina chuckled. "Yes. Yes, it is."

Danni yawned. "I'm sleepy, Aunt Audi."

"Go back to sleep, sweetheart." Audrina urged. "We'll talk more when you wake up."

"Everyone's okay, right?" Danni sounded like she was falling asleep again.

"Everyone's fine." Audrina promised. "You'll see them when you wake up."

Randal opened his eyes when Audrina left to tell everyone that Danni had woke up and just thought.

He told himself it was alright but in his heart of heart's he knew that change was coming.

* * *

_**February 28th, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Danni's face was set in grim lines as she gripped the railings in her hands and forced her right leg to move forward. It obeyed, shaking, and she took a deep breath before she tried to put some weight on it. Her leg immediately folded and she would have fallen if she hadn't been holding the railing. She cursed, her head falling forward so that her chin touched her chest. She looked tired and frustrated.

Randal half-rose as his daughter struggled to straighten again, her face gray and beads of perspiration dotting her forehead and upper lip. Audrina caught his arm and shook her head. She looked as strained as he felt.

"She has to do it herself." she breathed. Randal nodded once and crossed his arms over his chest. Danni had started physical therapy almost as soon as it was clear that she would keep her leg. It had been her choice, really. She could have waited but she refused to. She was determined to get her life back as soon as possible.

There was no quick fix for this. All she could do was rebuild what had been destroyed and take more potions than Randal thought possible to control the pain and aid in the regrowth.

It had actually hurt Randal to see his daughter when she insisted that she had to go to the funerals for her classmates killed. Especially for Sophie. She had struggled to stand even though her leg was nowhere near strong enough. P.L. had stepped so that he stood on her left and Fred on her right and the two held her up so that she could stand for Sophie as her casket was moved into the mausoleum.

And it hurt him in a way to see that the bond between the six teenagers was stronger than any other bond in their family.

While he thought about this, Fred, P.L., Clarice, Jason and Brandon walked into the room Danni was struggling in. The healer started forward, scowling, but Audrina waved her back.

"So, take-out chow?" Fred said casually.

"From?" Danni ground out, taking a step with her left leg and then struggling to move her right.

"Green place?" Clarice suggested. Randal frowned. Where was that?

"Mmm. Gumbo." Danni made a face that was one part smile and one part teeth baring from exertion.

"Want?" Jason asked.

"Mmm." Danni took another step.

"Sweets?" Brandon added.

"God yes." Danni ground out, her eyes fixed on her goal. With the other five here, she seemed to have pushed off her frustration and was moving again.

"What?" Fred asked.

"Usual." Danni took another step.

"Movie?" Clarice suggested.

"Cool." Danni reached the end of the rails and slumped, panting. Fred put her arm around her.

"You did it." she praised softly. Danni looked up at her, sweat still dotting her face and grinned.

"Yeah." Randal smiled at the triumph in her voice.

"Uh, not to intrude but did they just have an actual conversation?" the healer asked.

"Oh yes. They were deciding where they wanted to get dinner from, then decided the location and then decided whether or not Danni wanted desert and should they get a movie for the evening." Audrina said flippantly. "She does and they will."

Randal smiled again. They had learned early not to have full conversations that could be overheard by strangers. They could carry on full conversations that consisted of one word statements, questions and answers. It was actually quite impressive.

Danni looked at Randal and smiled grimly. "I'm gonna walk again and when I do, I am gonna burn that damned chair." she told him. "And I am gonna dance around it."

"I have no doubt." Randal chuckled.

* * *

_**March 18th, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Fred and Audrina seemed to be constantly arguing lately. Randal heard them once again stomping in opposite directions. This time, Fred was begging Audrina to let her go try to find the information she wanted so badly. Audrina, of course, refused.

Randal shook his head. At least his Danielle wasn't doing this. She had questions, yes, but she seemed content to let the past stay in the past.

He smiled and turned the page in his book. Yes. His daughter was much more sensible than Fred.

If he had left his room, he would have seen Danni and Fred sharing a significant look before glancing over at Clarice as she leaned out of her bedroom. She nodded once and then all three girls walked into Fred's room and closed the door.

The looks they shared would have made him rethink his position on how sensible Danielle was after all.

* * *

_**May 1st, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

Someone was not just knocking but **_banging_** on his door.

Randal opened the door and glared at Audrina. "When did you get home?" he demanded. "And what happened to civilized knocking?"

She ignored him and waved a handful of paper in his face.

"They're gone! Gone, Randal!" she shrieked.

"Who?" he asked, truly clueless.

"The kids! They're gone!" Audrina was hysterical so Randal took the papers from her.

Each was a paper and each said basically the same thing. That the writer was sorry but there were some things that had to be done. Clarice, P.L., Brandon and Jason's letters said that they had to go to support Fred while Fred's letter said that she had to know who her father was and was going to find out come hell or high water.

"It was the media! They knew our kids had run away before we did!" Audrina shrieked. "There were pictures in the paper!" She shoved another piece of paper in his face and Randal saw the six teenagers standing together, staring at a map while obviously discussing it in a picturesque setting that Randal was certain was nowhere near New Orleans.

"What about Danielle?" Randal frowned. Audrina was blithering on about thinking they were here while everyone else thought that they were with her in Canada. Randal remembered vaguely that she had been doing a concert in Montreal while the team had a game in Houston. The kids had been planning on going with Audrina, if he remembered correctly. Randal stepped around her and walked into his daughter's room.

There on the lavender duvet was a folded note. He picked it and read it quickly.

_Dear Daddy, _

_Fred needs me and she's not the only one that needs the truth. _

_I know there is more than what you are telling me and I don't know what could be any worse than what I already know. It scares me to imagine what it could be. But I have to know. _

_You say that my heritage is also my curse, well, I want to know the full extent of both of those things. That woman in the book is someone to me and I have to know. _

_I love you, Daddy, and I always will but I have to know. _

_Love you, _

_Danielle_

_P.S._

_Don't worry. I have my potions._

Randal gripped the letter in his fist.

"Oh God." he breathed.

And in that moment, he felt everything slipping away from him.

* * *

_**May 1st, 2013 The Burrow**_

Valentine met him with a hug and a smile.

Her smile made him worry because it wasn't her usual shameless grin. It was almost hesitant.

The fact that she was also standing in his mother's kitchen made his eyebrows rise and his stomach drop. He had learned to always be nearby on this day and the next for his parent's sake, the same as his siblings had, but this was the first time someone else had been there.

"Hi, Val. Don't think I'm not happy to see you but **_why_** am I seeing you?" he asked.

"We've taken over your family home." she replied, straight faced. "I decided it was easier than having more children to take care of my empty nest problems."

"Oh, well as long as there's a reasonable explanation." he shrugged, tossing his bag onto a chair. "What did you do with my family?"

"Oh, we'll be keeping them. Jack's outside with your parents." Valentine waved a hand flippantly. "Defeats the purpose if we don't keep the family, doesn't it?"

"I guess it does." he agreed and sat down. She set a cup of tea in front of him, then took a plate from the oven, placed that down and sat opposite. "What's up, Val? Don't see you in England very often."

She made a face. "Aye. I know. But desperate times..."

He snickered and then stopped. "What desperate times?"

"The kids are playing at the celebration in Hogsmeade." Valentine folded her hands neatly in front of her. "And they want us to be there."

"Alright..." he frowned.

"They want _**you**_ to be there."

He blinked. "Me? Why me?"

"Well, funny about that question." She frowned even as she told him it was funny. "Alessa and Maddy are insistent. I mean, they are loud about it. The others want you there and are harassing me about it but Alessa and Maddy are going ballistic."

"Why?" he lifted his cup but didn't drink.

Valentine took a breath. "Because they accidentally smuggled six underage people out of The States into Europe and one of them looks just like Mia."

Charlie blinked.

"Another one looks just like your sister, Ginny, but one _**really**_ looks like Mia."

She waited, watching him.

He looked at his plate. "And..."

"And they think that she's Fiona." Valentine hesitated. "She's also Ethan's girlfriend."

"_**What**_?!" Ethan Larkin had a reputation as a lady's man even at his young age. Or at least he had the last time Charlie had heard.

"Ethan is the only one that doesn't actually know what's happening." She smiled a little. "God love him but the boy's just not that observant. He didn't even notice his girlfriend and her friends were hiding in his area when they left New Orleans!" She frowned. "Or that's what he's saying. I'll know for sure when I see him face-to-face."

"What do you mean his area?" Charlie growled.

"Well, they took a series of portkeys and once they were in Europe, they took a bus. Well, a couple of buses. The Six hid in Ethan's portion of the buses. There were so many things going on and people coming along that they just didn't notice."

"The Six?"

"Oh, that's what the media calls them." Valentine waved her hand. "They're a bit famous over in The States and, I believe in some parts of Europe. I don't really read society pages or Teen Rags, but their parents are Quidditch players except for one whose mother is a singer. And they were on the American Team that won the American Youth Nationals. The kids, I mean. The adults were on the team that won the World Cup."

"But is she's Fiona... then..." Charlie waved a hand.

"They haven't met him." Valentine said carefully. "The man that says he's her father is not on the team so I guess that's two that aren't on the team. He's a manager or something. They weren't sure. Apparently he doesn't leave the house very often. Ethan's only met him once and he seemed like an odd sort, he said." She stood and walked to her bag. She sorted through until she found an envelope. She came back and put the envelope in front of him. "Go on then. Those are some pictures that Bridget sent me for my opinion."

His hands were shaking as he opened the envelope and pulled the photographs out.

The first one was of Ethan Larkin with a girl with purple streaked black hair, a pierced nose, one black eye and one blue eye. And God help him, Mia's chin. She was smiling up at him and when her face lit up with the smile, he could see Mia.

He swallowed hard and looked at the next photo. It was of the girl sitting with her arms resting on her knees, talking to a girl that looked just like his sister, Ginny, when she was a teenager. She threw her hair back and laughed and he was looking at Mia.

He looked at the third photo and saw the girl gazing into the distance, a soft look on her face. Her hair was blowing around her face. and she glanced back toward the person taking the photo and smiled.

He felt like someone punched him in the gut.

"It's her." he breathed. "It has to be."

He looked at all of the other photographs, seeing the girl laughing and talking to people. In the last photo, she was walking and, for the first time, he saw something that made him frown.

"Why does she have a cane?"

"Her school was attacked. I don't know the whole story but apparently purebloods were being targeted and some of her friends were taken to be killed and she went after them. From what Ethan says she fought until it was over and then someone that they thought was down hit her with a curse. She almost lost her leg."

"Where- where has she been?" Charlie stared at the photo. She looked annoyed and from the way she kept glancing down at the cane, he assumed she was annoyed by it.

"New Orleans." Valentine sat down beside him. "Her name, the name she goes by, is Danielle. But everyone calls her Danni. Danni Montague."

"Where is she now?" Charlie's voice was hoarse.

"Hogsmeade."

He stood.

"Let's go."

Ten minutes later, Alessa Larkin opened the door to her room at the inn.

"Mum! Dad!" She beamed. "Charlie! Oh, I am so glad you're all here! Come in! Come in!" She stepped aside for them to enter the room. "Can I get you something to drink? I think we have something over there." She looked toward a stack of luggage. "Well, we can order something in any case."

Madeline looked up from the bed. "You're late." she announced.

"So sorry, luvie. And no, we're fine. No need to order anything." Valentine kissed her forehead. "Well?"

Alessa looked at Madeline. They exchanged a Look.

"Oh no. I hate that look." groaned Jack. "Hello, Ari." Arianna, curled in a chair in the corner, lifted one hand but didn't look up from her book.

The door opened again and the rest of the Larkin Children walked in.

"Mum! Dad!" Ethan blinked and then smiled. "Hey! Wow! And Charlie! What are all of you doing here?"

"He doesn't know?" Jack asked the others. "Still?"

Sylvia shrugged. "Weren't really sure how or if it was right. So we didn't say anything."

"What?" Ethan looked around.

"Here." Valentine reached into her seemingly bottomless purse and handed him a photo. He stared.

"Okay. Danni holding a baby. How'd you get this? And who's the baby?" He handed it back.

"I took it. The baby is you and that's not Danni. That's Mia." Valentine tucked the photo away. She looked at Henri. "Would you explain, please? I'm afraid I'll ramble."

Henri looked at Ethan. "Your girlfriend may be the kidnapped daughter of Charlie Weasley and Mia Kelley. You know, the one we've been looking for and that the rest of us would, and did, recognize in a second? And from the look on their faces, she is. Because, you know, the rest of us and apparently our parents and family friend would also recognize her in a second but yet you, who has spent pretty much every waking hour thinking about her and, when the chance comes up, being with her, did not. Probably because you are the most unobservant human being on the face of the planet." He paused. "Sorry. Guess I rambled, too."

Ethan sat down and blinked. "No way."

"Way, little brother. She _**is**_ that girl and you _**are**_ the most unobservant being on the face of the planet but we love you anyway." Sheridan sat down next to him and looked at her siblings. "So who's going to tell them?"

"Tell us what?" Jack frowned.

"One, two, three, NOT IT!" all of the Larkin Children but Arianna yelled.

Arianna looked up from her book. "Bugger." She sighed. "Right. Okay. We lost them."

"Lost who?" Valentine asked.

"The Six. We lost them sometime around lunch." she explained. "Turned our backs and boom! They were gone." She shook her head. "They are **_very_** good at that. It's really a talent."

"You _**lost**_ them?!" Charlie cried.

"You have to understand why they're here." Bridget said carefully. "We were going to come back here, show Mum the pictures and then go from there. But they came along without an invitation. And apparently they planned it. It was the perfect time. Their parents were all busy and they managed to make some of them think that they were in one place while the others thought that they were in another and in reality, they were heading in a different direction altogether.

"You see, Fred, the redhead, she doesn't know who her father is beyond his name was Fred, he was a redhead and he died at the Battle of Hogwarts. She came to find out about him. Well, Danni is here for another reason that she told Alessa."

"Oh?" Charlie choked. How many redheaded Fred's had died at the Battle? He felt close to overload.

"She found a picture of a woman named Mia Kelley and wants to know their connection." Alessa chimed in. "She told me last night."

"There's more." Noelle said, looking at Lauren.

"Some photographers found them and took a picture that ended up in the papers." Lauren explained. "Chances are, their parents are on their way."

"Which means that the man that has raised Danni is on his way." Sebastien added needlessly.

"So we had better find them first." James put his hand on Arianna's shoulder.

"And did we mention that we have no idea what they currently look like?" Noelle asked. "See, Danni is really, **_really_** good at charms and has been making them look different since they were like twelve. She's a pro at it now. And Fred is a metamorphmagus so she can change herself easily and quickly all by herself."

"So we're basically looking for six teenagers that could look like anyone in a village that has at least three thousand of people coming in for a celebration and has a school up the road with thousands of kids." Jack sat down and groaned. "No, this won't be hard at all."

"Could be worse." Sheridan shrugged. "At least we know that they have to come back to where we are at least long enough to say goodbye. I mean, we have Ethan and I doubt they would leave without Danni telling her boyfriend that she's leaving the area... never mind that they did, in fact, leave without telling him earlier today. But they weren't actually leaving the area! We assume."

"Sheridan, you aren't helping." Henri whispered.

"I know, but I was trying. It just got away from me, I'm afraid." she whispered back.

There was a tapping at the window. Ethan walked over and opened it to allow a large black bird inside.

"Hey, Jeremy." He untied a note from the bird's leg and scanned it. "Well, they're someplace nearby and not coming back tonight."

Charlie snatched the letter away.

_Don't be mad. We have had a breakthrough and since it's really kind of late, we're staying where we are. Don't be mad. We're fine and safe and all that. See you tomorrow! Promise!_

_Love, _

_Danni_

_ps_

_Don't be mad._

Part of him wanted to keep this letter as the first proof that this girl actually existed. Since no one seemed to want it back, he slipped it into his pocket.

"Any guesses on where they are?" Valentine asked.

"At the school." Madeline and Alessa chimed.

"Did you have a vision?" Jack asked.

"No, it's just the only place we haven't checked." Madeline shrugged.

"I think I should call my family." Charlie decided.

"You're mother's waiting for the call." Valentine nodded.

"Floo's over there." Madeline and Alessa chorused, pointing.

An hour later, every single Weasley was crowded into the room. Bill and Fleur had just walked over from their room since they had come to see their daughter on her birthday.

A call to Hogwarts assured them that although no runaways had been sighted as of yet, they would find them if they were in the castle.

Charlie stepped outside to have a moment's peace and found himself joined by Ethan.

"So." Ethan said after standing with the older man for a moment.

"So." Charlie glanced at the teenager.

"They have to come back to where we are." Ethan announced. "We have Jeremy."

"Tell me about her." Charlie requested.

Ethan smiled. "She's amazing." He launched into a detailed description of his favorite subject: his girlfriend.

"And, the best thing is that I've finally gotten her to agree that she's my girlfriend." he added after listing everything else he could think of. This list contained items such as the fact that she was smart, beautiful, funny, fearless, had a mean right hook and liked seafood and animals... not necessarily for the same reason. Charlie smiled.

"Hey, Ethan." Ethan looked at him curiously. "If she is my daughter, which I'm pretty sure that she is and you ever hurt her, I'll feed you to a dragon."

"Then I guess I had better never hurt her."

"That would probably be for the best."


	6. Chapter 6

_***I own nothing. I gain nothing. And I am very sorry if there are any mistakes or insanity in this. I wanted to get it out here before I left for my birthday weekend. Happy birthday to me!***_

_**May 2nd, 2013 Hogsmeade**_

The next morning dawned cloudy. The Weasley family joined the Larkin Family for breakfast before the children were sent home, under duress and while protesting, in Audrey's care for the day. Once the children were gone, they split up to hunt for the lost teenagers.

Aurors had been alerted that there was a chance one of the few Death Eaters that they had not managed to capture may be in the area and an added number of officers patrolled.

Shop owners were alerted to the fact that there were six runaways to be on the look-out for and by the time that the students descended on the village, there seemed that there was no way that they could be missed.

All in all, there were not a lot of Americans running around Hogsmeade.

Charlie had not been able to sleep. Knowing that he was so close to his daughter and that soon, he would be with her had kept him from sleep. The fear that he wouldn't find her before her kidnapper did or that he was completely wrong and Danni Montague was not his daughter ensured that when the excitement waned, he was still awake.

In the end, he had spent most of the night sitting up looking at the many magazines and newspapers that, through a few well-placed floo calls and their own personal collections in at least one case, his family and the Larkin's had procured for him.

He had started with the very old reports which showed a pair of pretty little girls, one with red hair and one with black dancing on a stage during a Parisian Concert that Audrina Winterborne had performed in and he had actually attended. He had been dumbfounded when he realized that at least once, he had seen his daughter and not even realized it.

The two girls had grown older and been joined by another little girl with blond curls and three boys, two identical brunettes and a very good looking boy with black hair.

She always looked healthy and happy, wearing expensive clothing and looking well groomed. She looked like a rich, adored pureblood child.

When she reached her teens, he saw a change in her. The smile faded away and instead of bright colors, she began wearing all black. She also began wearing make-up and suddenly, there were piercings in her ears and nose. She looked defiant in so many pictures.

An action shot showed her plummeting to the ground during the Quidditch National Championship and a picture beneath it showed her and the other five teens in what looked like a brawl. But the picture beneath that showed them walking and talking companionably with the teens that they had been fighting with.

The next photographs made him growl without meaning to... and decide to have a little chat with Ethan Larkin. There were pictures of Danni dancing very close to the Irish boy in what he assumed was a club. Although another photograph made him smile. It was of Danni and Ethan sitting on a bench, a knit cap on her head, a scarf around her neck and a cup of steaming liquid held between her gloved hands. They were smiling at each other and looked innocent and sweet.

Sadly, the next thing he saw was the cover to a teen magazine. All six teenagers, as well as a girl he had seen in earlier pictures, were posing together with their brooms and not a lot else.

They looked far too old in those pictures and not incredibly decent in his opinion. Some of the pictures in the magazine looked a lot like pictures that he kept hidden away from his mother's eyes when he was her age.

And that had better be a fake tattoo on her shoulder blade.

He read the article that showed the redheaded girl and the black haired boy supporting her between them in a cemetery. It was the funeral of the teen girl he had seen in earlier pictures, Sophie. The Six, as they were called, stood together in a group in the middle of the crowd but yet apart from everyone else. Tears were streaking down the blond girl's face and the brunettes looked mournful. The last three seemed determined not to cry and the two girls held their chins out in a manner that Charlie saw every time he or one of his siblings were determined.

"Fred, what the hell did you do?" Charlie murmured, staring at the picture of the two girls.

This seemed to be a reoccurring question in his family because as they waited for any sign of the teens, the entire family was discussing whether or not they were, in fact, looking for two Weasley Girls and not just one.

And George was trying to figure out how he had not known his twin may have had a daughter.

Surprisingly, Fleur seemed to be the one most bothered by this.

"I was friends with Audrina, the girl's mother, and I do not know how I do not know this!" she said. "And I feel as though there is something I am forgetting! It is right there but I cannot get it!"

It was just over an hour after the students arrived that a young man in Hogwarts robes, his badge identifying him as a Hufflepuff, marched up to Charlie.

"You're looking for The Six." he announced.

"Yes." Charlie said carefully. "Have you seen them?"

"Why are you looking for them?" the boy asked.

"Personal reasons." Charlie replied. "Have you seen them?"

"Are they in trouble?" the boy persisted.

Charlie studied the boy. He had an American accent.

"Which one are you?" he asked.

"Huh?" the boy asked.

"You have an American accent. Which one are you?" Charlie asked.

The boy made a face. "Dammit. I knew I should have just used an accent but no-o-o-o-o. Danni said I sounded like a reject from 'Oliver Twist' so I didn't. Teach me to listen to her. Yeah. I'm Jason. Hi. Why are you looking for us? I don't know you and I doubt that they do, either."

"Where's Danni?" Charlie's raised voice had gotten the attention of Valentine and Bill who hurried over.

"I'm not answering until you tell me who you are and why you want Danni." The boy narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "And you won't find her unless someone tells you what she looks like right now."

"What do you mean?" Valentine asked.

"Danni's in charge of our appearance charms." Jason scoffed. "So hers are _**really**_ good. So answer my questions and I'll help. Otherwise, I know nothing."

"My name is Charlie Weasley and Danni may actually be Fiona Kelley, my daughter. She was kidnapped when she was only a few months old by a Death Eater named Rodolphus Lestrange when he murdered her mother, Mia Kelley." Charlie blurted. "Where is she?"

Jason stared at him, growing pale. "Fuck." he whispered. "I knew Randal was potentially nasty but that... Holy hell. That explains so much."

"What do you mean?" Valentine demanded.

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Look, Danni didn't come down yet. Fred was investigating some more stuff, trying to catch Neville Longbottom and Danni was investigating some other stuff. Clarice and I came on down." He turned and whistled. A girl with short brown hair walked over from where she had been watching. "Tell Clarice what you just told me." he demanded.

Clarice was not as believing as Jason and demanded proof. It took a little while but finally, she nodded.

"That makes total sense to me." she announced. "Well crap! We better find her before our parents get here and Randal snatches her!"

"Do you think he would actually come here?" Bill asked.

"Dude, Randal loves Danni." Jason snorted.

"And more than that, Randal owns us." Clarice said darkly.

"What do you mean?" Valentine frowned.

"I mean that he has managed to get all of us in his area, controls the money, you name it, Randal's involved in it." Clarice stopped. "Of course, he hasn't really come out of his room a lot in the last year or so."

"You have a problem with Randal?" Jason frowned and looked at Clarice. "I mean, I know he's creepy but he's not _**that**_ bad."

"There's something about him that creeps me out and I've actually paid attention unlike everyone else." She stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Although, I guess if I'm right, I do owe him for Dad."

"Not this again." Jason groaned. "This theory is crazy!"

"Okay, yeah, it's all in my head. Dad went from ignoring me and I swear he actually called me Candice for about a week and then Randal got mad at him and suddenly he's Father of the Year? Something is odd about that. And I'm not complaining but still... bit funny if you ask me." Clarice announced. "And then there's just Danni..."

"What about Danni?" the three adults demanded.

The teens blinked as if remembering suddenly that they were there.

"Oh, uh. Danni's just... I mean, Danni's got some quirks. That's all. And, you know, she knows spells she shouldn't know. I mean, she slaughters her opponents when she duels." Jason said carefully. "Not literally, of course! But you know... well, actually, you know, she _**did**_ take down some adults that were twice her age and size."

"And she beat the crap out of Scott when he tried to grab her." Clarice grinned. "I saw the pictures of him. And she did it without a wand." She stopped suddenly. "Um, hey. On that note, don't grab Danni. She'll make you cry."

"She gets that from her mother." Charlie and Valentine said in unison. Bill rolled his eyes.

An hour later, Clarice suddenly stopped and whistled loud and shrill. A moment passed before an answering whistle cut through the noise of the crowd. A moment later, a blond boy trotted toward them. He stopped when he saw the adults.

"Jay? Reese?" he said cautiously.

"Alright." Clarice waved a hand. "Epic. Later. Danni? Fred?"

The boy shrugged. "Incognito."

"Clue?" Jason asked.

The blond shrugged. "Pel. Lost one. Saw My Little Pony of Death and off she went." The other two rolled their eyes.

"Do you understand what they're saying?" Valentine whispered to the Weasley Brothers.

"Not a clue." Bill shook his head.

"I'm sorry, we're being rude." Clarice smiled sweetly. "Brandon, this is Valentine Larkin, Bill and Charlie Weasley. This is Brandon, Jason's twin brother. He was just saying that he hasn't seen Fred or Danni but he _**has**_ spoken to P.L. who is with Fred. However, Danni saw some sort of scary horse thing and ran off to investigate. She sees an animal she's never seen before and off she goes. She really can't help herself."

"Thestrals." Charlie nodded wisely. "They _**are**_ interesting."

Everyone looked at him oddly for a moment.

"You know, I really think he may be who he says he is." Jason whispered to Clarice. "Only someone who helped to spawn Danni would say something like that."

"Uh huh." she nodded.

"Hey, good to meet you." Brandon held out his hand and smiled. "Mrs. Larkin, we have all heard so much about you."

"Don't believe a word of it." Valentine smiled and shook his hand. "I am really a very nice person."

"Well, we know where they are." Jason smiled brightly. "Shall we?"

"Been meaning to ask." Bill said as they walked toward the castle. "Where did you get the robes?"

"Oh, we borrowed them from the people we were staying with." Clarice smiled. "They were so nice!"

"Yeah, we decided that if we had ever gone to school here, we _**totally**_ would want to be in their group." Jason nodded. "The name is kinda dumb but I have to say that their hospitality was wonderful."

"You hid out with the Hufflepuffs?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah. We got this letter from a guy in there awhile back, inviting us to come to school here since our old school is, well, closed. So when we came here, we hunted him down." Brandon explained. "We had dinner with them last night in that Great Hall place and it was pretty late so they offered to let us crash there. We had breakfast with them this morning and then off we went. Had a _**great**_ time."

"They hid out in the Hufflepuffs." Bill said in a stunned voice. "The last place anyone would look, really."

"Because no one ever suspects a Hufflepuff." Charlie agreed and then smiled. "You actually had dinner and breakfast in front of all the teachers?"

"The teachers that were looking for strange students?" Valentine added.

"The best place to hide is right in front of people. I'll bet that they checked every single nook and cranny but didn't think to check a dorm room. Or to check the Hufflepuffs. I got the feeling that no one really pays much attention to them." Clarice shrugged. "But we would really appreciate it if you didn't share all that."

"We don't want our hosts and hostesses to get in trouble." Jason nodded.

The entire Weasley Family, minus Percy and Harry who remained to keep watch in Hogsmeade, ended up wandering through Hogwarts, searching for three teenagers.

It was George and Charlie that discovered two of them seated near where Fred had died.

Charlie had joined his younger brother in their walk and saw George stop and swallow convulsively when they reached _**that**_ corridor. He put his hand on his brother's shoulder and waited for him to continue walking.

They heard voices first. Two men and one female. As they came around the corner, they saw Neville Longbottom standing in front of two teens. The girl was seated in an alcove, one knee drawn to her chest while the boy stood beside her, his hands in his pockets.

"Actually, here are two of the people you need to speak to." Neville said, looking in their direction. "Fred, P.L., meet George and Charlie Weasley. George, Charlie, I'd like you to meet P.L. and Fred."

The girl, Fred, hopped down and walked forward, a smile on her face. "Hey! I'm Fred and I have _**really**_ been looking forward to meeting you." She held out her hand.

She looked just like Ginny had when she was fifteen.

George took her hand and smiled. "I'm really happy to meet you, Fred."

She cocked her head, a mannerism that Charlie had seen his younger brother do a million times and grinned. "I think I'm related to you. But see, my Mom has a spell on her. I think. She can't speak my father's name or anything about that part of her life. I, um, I think we were forgotten or lost or something."

Charlie felt like he had just taken a bludger to the chest as he remembered Madeline and Alessa's prophesy a year earlier.

The Stolen and The Forgotten.

Danni was The Stolen and it looked like they had just found The Forgotten.

It was May, a time of rebirth and they were here.

Charlie started to smile.

An hour later, Fred and P.L. were sitting between Arthur and Molly, chatting away with the two stunned adults. P.L. stood behind her, watching carefully.

"You remind me of Danni." he said suddenly. Charlie looked at him.

"Oh?" he asked.

"How you're standing. She stands like that." P.L. turned and looked at him. "Danni and Fred look alike, too. They have mannerisms that are similar. They stick their chins out the same way. They have a lot of similarities. It's not just because they grew up together. I figured that out." Everyone around them looked at P.L., including Fred.

"I had history with Danni. I read the same books she did. I saw the picture of Mia Kelley. And I saw the picture of Rodolphus Lestrange." Charlie waited while the boy considered his next words. "Randal has a lot of scars. On his face. He never wears short sleeves. I've never seen his arms. He taught Danni a lot of spells no one in their right mind teaches a kid. She loves him but she's been sort of scared of him since she was twelve. No. I said that wrong. Scared of him for the rest of us. Not for her. I saw him fighting that night they almost killed us for being born to a family of witches and wizards. I saw Danni fighting. I watch more than the others do. I watch like Danni watches. I don't always like what I see. I love Danni. She's my sister. I respect her enough that I've never asked her questions. But I'll ask you now.

"Who are you? Who is Mia Kelley? And who is Danni?"

"I don't think I've ever heard him say that much at one time." Fred whispered to Molly.

"I'm Danni's father." Charlie said. "Mia was her mother. Her name isn't Danni. It's Fiona. Until a year ago, I thought she was dead. Murdered at the same time as her mother. I've been searching for her. We all have."

P.L. nodded. "You better find her before Randal does. He won't let her go."

Fred stood. She was pale now and looked a bit sick. "No way." she breathed. "No frikkin way."

"Tante Marie." P.L. said, looking at her. "Remember what she said."

"Who's Tante Marie?" Arthur asked, standing.

"Voodoo woman back home." Fred said dumbly. "Ah shit. We opened Pandora's Box just like she said we would."

"So we find Danni and close the box." P.L. looked back at Charlie. "Under normal circumstances, none of us would believe you. I don't know what Tante Marie told Danni but she warned me about something like this. So I believe you. I warned the others so they believe you, too. Can you fly?"

"Excuse me?" Charlie blinked.

"Danni was supposed to be back in Hogsmeade in time for dinner with Ethan. The plan is that all the charms to change our appearances will end when the sun sets because we were all going to be in the same area by that time. No way she's still up here. Chances are that our parents are here by now, too. That means _**Randal**_ is here. You can't make it down there in time to find her first if you walk. Can you fly?" He pulled out a tiny broom from his pocket and tapped it with his wand. It returned to its proper size. Charlie's eyebrows lifted in appreciation of the broom.

"Yeah. I can fly."

"She won't listen to you without us." Fred stood and pulled a tiny broom from her pocket as well. As soon as it was resized, she looked at P.L. "You with us?"

"Always."

She glanced back at the others. "We will totally continue this in a bit. Look, my Mom's name is Audrina Winterbourne. Just- just look for the insanity and the bunch of people talking with Southern American accents."

The three strode from the room. "I'm really happy to meet you!" Fred called.

As they disappeared, Molly looked at the others. "I think I actually need a drink."

Charlie was pleasantly surprised that even with two of them on a broom, Fred and P.L. did not slow him down at all. Not that he would have stopped but they had been correct. Danni didn't know him let alone trust him. From everything he had learned about her, she would not be ready to trust a complete stranger.

Fred looked at him. "Do you have a plan?" she called over the wind.

"Sort of." he called back.

She snickered. "You know, in thirty minutes, you have reminded me more of Danni than Randal did in twelve years. She usually just flies by the seat of her pants, too. You know, goes in without a real plan and just wings it?" She shook her head. "I feel like my world has shifted. I can't imagine how Danni's gonna feel. Wait. No, her name's Fiona, isn't it?"

"That's the name she was given at birth." Charlie agreed.

"I think that the name issue is going to please her at least a little." P.L. called.

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"The name she's gone by since she a baby is Danielle Isabella Montague. Her initials have been D.I.M. It annoyed her. What are her initials now?"

"Fiona Charlotte Kelley is what's on her birth certificate." Charlie called back. "So F.C.K."

Fred immediately snickered. "All she needs is a 'U' name there between Fiona and Charlotte. Poor thing is cursed."

It took Charlie a minute and then he snorted. "Think she'll be willing to go by 'Weasley'?" he asked. "At least then she'll just be F.C.W."

After they all got done chuckling, Fred looked at him again. "Danni's like my sister. We've been together since we were three. She's saved my life a few times. I love her. Please be patient with her. This is going to be really hard. Her whole world is basically gonna go up in flames. None of this is her fault and..." she shook her head. "Please be patient."

"I will." Charlie promised.

They landed on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Percy came to meet them.

"Nothing yet." he reported, his eyes on Fred.

"Hiya!" she held out her hand. He accepted her hand.

"Amazing." he murmured. "Simply amazing."

"I am at that." she nodded sagely. "And I'm cute, too."

Charlie chuckled. "Come on, Perce. Let's go find her."

* * *

_**May 2nd, 2013 Hogsmeade**_

Randal pushed his way through the crowds, not noticing or caring the looks and mutters he received for his rudeness. All that mattered was that he find her. His little girl was somewhere in this chaos.

The others had gone in other directions to look for the children but all Randal cared for was that he find his Danielle.

Thunder rumbled and rain began to fall. No one seemed interested in ending their celebrations, though. If anything, they seemed more excited.

He had a plan. He just had to get to her and then they would go to Wales. They were here for a reason. He was certain that he could cast the spell and fix it all. And if he couldn't, he was sure that Danielle could.

He wondered if on some level he had been aware of the fact that he had been training her to do this. If he had recognized that he would not be able to handle the complexities of the spell his mother had made and had trained and groomed his daughter to be able to.

It didn't matter really because he had.

But more important than that, he just wanted her back.

He had to protect her. She was his daughter and she was alone in this place where his world had started to fall apart.

He had rebuilt it but without her, it would crumble again.

The sun was setting and music was being played somewhere nearby. She loved music. She would go there.

This thought took hold of him just as he saw something that made his heart nearly stop.

The Redheaded Harpy was here.

He saw her talking to some of her bastards and looking around.

Oh God.

She had stolen Danielle and Bella before. She would do it again.

He reached into his robes for his wand. He should just take care of her now. One quick spell and he would know his daughter would be safe. Just one quick spell.

But he couldn't do it. There had been a time he could have but he couldn't now. For some reason, the buzzing in his head receded as a quiet whisper soothed it.

Audrina.

He could hear her telling him not to do it. That murder was not the answer and that would be what it was. If he killed the woman while she was unarmed and distracted, it would be murder. Murder in front of children.

Standing beside the Harpy was a young girl, not much younger than his Danielle. Probably one of her grandchildren.

Randal could not strike down the bitch in front of the child.

So he turned away and continued to search for his daughter.

* * *

_**May 2nd, 2013 Hogsmeade**_

"Fredericka Georgiana-" The voice ended in a choked sound before continuing. "Winterbourne Delainy! Get your skinny little rear over here this instant!"

Fred winced as her newfound family looked at her. "Crap. Mum. When she's _**really**_ mad, she tries to say my full name but she can't say my real last name and it just comes out this funny noise like she's choking on something. I really thought that was my last name when I was little." she said before turning and pasting a fake smile on her face. "Hi, Mum! Fancy meeting you here!"

"Fancy meeting me here, indeed!" Audrina Winterbourne stalked through the rain toward her daughter. "Do you have _**any**_ idea how worried I have been? Do you? What were you thinking, Fred? _**Were**_ you thinking?!"

"As much as I ever do." Fred said with a sigh. "But I stand by my belief that this was actually a good idea." Audrina stared at her a moment, shock and fury warring on her face.

"Audrina?" Fleur stepped beside Fred and smiled. "It _**is**_ you! It has been too long!" Audrina's eyes widened at the sight of the French woman. Fleur smiled and grasped her hand. Audrina reacted in a heartbeat. She tightened her grip and pulled the other woman to her.

"Please don't take this the wrong way." she blurted. "_Memor_." And then, she kissed the very startled woman.

Immediately both women gasped and a flash of white light erupted from them and then spread to the other adult members of the Weasley Family.

"Fleur!" Audrina cried, pulling away. "Thank God! Oh thank God!"

"I remember." Fleur breathed. "I remember you! I remember all of it!" She laughed, tears forming in her eyes. "Oh, Audrina! You are here!"

Audrina had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Yes! You were the Secret Keeper for the spell! It wasn't supposed to last so long but it did! It was only supposed to last until we were safe from Death Eaters and then end! Something went wrong. And I couldn't get to you to end it myself! I couldn't even **_write_** to you!"

"Randal, Mum." Fred said softly. "Randal."

"What about Randal?" Audrina turned. "Oh, Fred! I have so much to tell you! I've waited so long to tell you! And I wanted to! Your father was Fred Weasley! We met during the Tri-Wizard Tournament and became friends! And he loved you so much!"

"_**Mum**_! We've been living with a Death Eater for twelve years!" Fred grabbed her mother's hands. "Randal. His real name is Rodolphus Lestrange. Danni isn't really his daughter! He kidnapped her and murdered her mother. I don't know why he took us in and didn't kill us in our sleep but he is a Death Eater! I'll bet that's why the spell never wore off! Randal!"

Audrina lost all color in her face. "N-no. That's not possible." She looked at Molly Weasley. "Molly?" The older woman simply took the younger's hand. "No! Randal is my best friend! He's always been there! We would have starved or been murdered or- or something if not for him!" She looked around. "He's here! He'll tell you how ridiculous this all is! Randal! Randal!"

"Mum!" Fred grabbed her mother and shook her. "If he's not then we can figure it all out but first, we need to find Danni. If we're right then he's gonna take off with her and then we won't find her again! If we're wrong, well, no harm done. So let's find Danni!"

Audrina nodded. "Yes. Let's find her and get all of this set to rights." She started walking and then turned to look at the others, all of whom were still stunned. "We can talk about everything else when we're done." She glanced at her daughter. "Oh, and Fred?"

"Yes, Mum?"

"You're grounded 'til you're dead."

"I figured."

* * *

_**May 2nd, 2013 Hogsmeade**_

The first time he saw her, she was bathed in the light of fireworks and soaking wet. She was laughing and dancing by moving her upper body, one arm over her head and her black hair with purple streaks flying around her.

He watched her, transfixed as she danced in the rain.

He wouldn't have seen her at first if not for the fact that in the middle of a song, Alessa had suddenly sang a different line other than what was actually in the song.

"Charlie, she's in the crowd! Right in front of me, about six people in, move your butt or you'll miss her!" The blond girl was pointing with one hand while waving the other as if he might miss her on stage.

And the funniest thing was that Charlie was pretty sure no one caught that. Or if they did, they thought that it was a change to the song.

So he pushed his way through the crowd and stopped short.

She was beautiful.

He looked at her as another firework exploded against the storm and she was bathed again in white light. Her eyes were Mia's eyes. Large and almond shaped with one eye the color of obsidian and the other a pale gray-blue like the color of a winter sky. Her cheekbones weren't as defined as Mia's but that chin and nose were all Mia.

She was wearing black robes that sparkled a little and he realized that there was a stud on the side of her little nose. She smiled and he realized that she had Mia's mouth, too.

He took a step toward her and stopped. He didn't know what to say.

"Hi! I'm your father!" would probably be met with a deep belief that he was insane. She wouldn't believe him and would probably run screaming. Or limp quickly away since she obviously wasn't up to running.

He frowned as that thought hit him. Should she be on her feet so much?

It was startling to realize that without having ever spoken a single word to her, he felt protective of her.

He must have been close to right about her being on her feet so much because as he watched, she started making her way through the crowd.

Toward him.

His breath caught in his throat as she came closer and closer to him. Her smile had slipped until it was just a slight curve to her lips; a memory of a smile. Her eyes were downcast and she brushed her hair from her forehead with the back of the hand that wasn't holding the cane.

Then, a man in a robe caught her arm. She gasped and looked up at him. Charlie frowned and started forward.

"Dad, I'm sorry that you're upset!" He caught her conversation through a lull in the songs. "But we had to! Fred needed us and I need the truth!"

"Right now, we need to get out of here." the man growled. "Our kind isn't welcome here. We can meet everyone else later."

"But it'll only take me a second to tell Fred where I'm going." She turned her head away, obviously looking for the other girl. "Just a second! I promise!"

"No, Danielle! Now! We leave _**now**_!" the man pulled her toward him and she stumbled.

Charlie grabbed her other arm and pulled. She stumbled toward him, surprise in her eyes. "Oi! Get your hands off her!" he snarled.

The man that had grabbed his daughter looked at him and Charlie saw, for the first time, the man he had only seen pictures of: Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Remove your hands from my daughter." he ordered, his eyes narrowed.

"You son of a bitch." Charlie growled and launched himself at the former Death Eater.

* * *

_**May 2nd, 2013 Hogsmeade**_

Danielle didn't scream.

Many people around them screamed but not his Danielle.

Randal noted that as she went stumbling backwards when The Redheaded Bastard landed on him. That was the last thing he noted because he then learned that the expression "seeing stars" was not entirely accurate. He saw entire galaxies of white flashes before his eyes when the first punch landed. He realized, as the second punch landed that if he didn't fight back, this man may actually beat him to death.

They fought like common muggles, rolling through the mud, trading blows. Women were screaming and men yelling and yet, no one thought to actually separate them until Randal felt the Redheaded Bastard fly one way and he the other.

"What. The. Fuck?" his baby girl snarled, her wand out. Lightning crashed in the distance and rain fell harder. Her hair was plastered to her pale face but she stood her ground.

"I told you we have to leave." Randal told her. "Now put me down!" He wasn't quite sure what she had done but both men were currently about a foot off the ground and six feet away from each other.

"Don't!" the Redheaded Bastard yelled. "The aurors! Wait for the aurors!"

"Why? So they can arrest you, you nutcase?" Danielle looked at him.

"So they can arrest _**him**_!" the Redheaded Bastard yelled again.

She got pale. "Right. Whatever." She backed toward Randal, who was lowering carefully to the ground, and kept her wand on The Redheaded Bastard, who was also lowering. "Dad?"

"He's not your father!" the Redheaded Bastard was trying to keep a calm voice but it wasn't working out well. "He's a Death Eater!" There were gasps and yells at this announcement. Several people started forward. Randal cursed under his breath when he realized that in the fight, his sleeve had been torn and, in the light of the fireworks, his arm and the mark on it were clearly revealed to all who cared to look.

They had to leave.

Immediately.

Randal grabbed Danielle's arm. "Hold on, sweetheart." he whispered. She nodded and lowered her wand. They would be home and safe soon. And everything could go back to how it was.

Danielle looked up at him, her eyes worried. "Dad... what about the others?" she whispered.

"We'll find them." he promised as he began to turn.

As the spell took hold, something awful happened. Something that he had always feared.

Danielle was ripped away from him.

The last thing he saw as he disappeared was his beautiful daughter, reaching for him and screaming while the Redheaded Bastard held her tight and the storm raged.

And then, he was in a field near the sea beneath a cloudless sky.

Alone.

* * *

_**May 2, 2013 Hogsmeade**_

She fought like a wild animal.

She scratched, she clawed, she kicked, hit and, at one point actually hung from his arm by her teeth.

And he refused to let go.

He had his daughter and he would not let her go.

He hadn't had a plan. He had seen the bastard start to escape with his daughter and he had just reacted. He had run at them, grabbed his daughter and pulled as hard as he could. The result had been that when the bastard disappeared, he had been left holding her.

Now he just had to keep her from ripping him to pieces.

"You son of a bitch!" she shrieked, tears pouring down her cheeks to mix with the rain. "Let me go, you asshole! Let me _**go**_! Daddy!"

"He's **_not_** your father." Charlie said against her ear. "I swear to you, he's **_not_**. Please, calm down! Let me explain!"

"Explain nothing, asshole! Let me go! Daddy!" She slammed her head back and he tasted blood and saw a flash of white as the back of her very hard head collided with his teeth and nose.

"Danni! Danni, stop!" Fred slid to a stop in front of them, her hands held up in supplication. "Please! Listen to me!"

"He left me! My dad left me!" Danni cried, reaching her hands toward Fred.

"Sweetheart, it's alright." an auburn haired woman that Charlie recognized as Fred's mother, Audrina, reached for the girl and, as much as he hated to, Charlie released her. Danni flew into the woman's arms as Charlie tried to get his nose to stop bleeding.

"Told you she'd make you cry if you grabbed her." a regretful voice said beside him. Charlie glanced down at Clarice. She winced. At some point, the girl had acquired an umbrella so she was the only dry person here. "I think I can fix that." she offered. "If you want." Before he could reply, she said the charm and his broken nose fixed itself. "But someone else needs to do your teeth. I think she broke at least one." she added. "I never got that one. You might end up with fangs. Oh. And I think she kept part of your arm." Charlie glanced down at the ragged hole in his arm that her teeth had left and winced. If he had doubted that she could fight off a wizard intent on kidnapping her before, he certainly believed it now.

Charlie looked back at his daughter. His family had joined them as well as some very confused looking Americans.

"Mia Kelley." Valentine's calm voice cut through the chaos. His daughter looked at her, startled. "You've been looking for the reason you look just like her, my daughter tells me." Danni, Fiona, he wasn't sure what to call her, nodded slowly. Valentine was joined by Jack and the two moved closer. "I can tell you. Mia was my best friend. I'm Valentine Larkin, by the way, that lots' mother." She nodded toward the Larkin Children who had ceased to play and made their way toward the group. "This is their father, Jack. You look like Mia because Mia was your mother. You have a birthmark on your left thigh. It's crescent shaped, yeah?"

"Yeah." her voice was small and hesitant. "How..."

"I just told you, she was my best friend." Valentine explained gently. Charlie said a prayer of thanks for the many years that Valentine had spent calming traumatized children. "And besides that, I'm the one that delivered you when you were born. Me and Julie, our other best friend."

Danni... Fiona... Charlie still didn't know what to call her, studied Valentine with caution in her eyes.

Valentine smiled. "I think we need to move this conversation somewhere private." She jerked her head around to the crowd and then looked around. "What? Haven't you ever seen all hell breaking loose? Move along! Nothing more to see here! Shoo!" She made a shooing motion with her hands.

Charlie watched as his daughter was escorted by the family she knew away from the scene of the insanity. He stood there a moment before Jack touched his arm.

"Be patient." his friend said gently. "She's got a lot to cope with all at once. Just be patient. And for God's sake, let someone fix your arm and teeth."

Charlie nodded and followed the group.

His face was hurting and his arm throbbed but Charlie smiled.

He had his daughter back.


	7. Chapter 7

_****I own nothing. I get nothing. This is for my own amusement. _

_Sorry for how long it's been. RL sucks. AddysonMae, who is so awesome, I am SO sorry! I owe you big? Forgive me? No spitting?****_

**_May 2nd, 20013 The Burrow_**

She looked lost.

Charlie sat as close as he could to her but The Six had closed ranks in a way and even Ethan had a problem getting near her.

It had been disconcerting when he brushed past Audrina and suddenly remembered her but he had been too focused on his daughter. Audrina and Fred would be two things he would focus on later.

A quick paternity spell, which Jack helpfully performed, proved that she was, in fact, his daughter.

When the spell was cast and the two were illuminated in a blue glow, she had put her head on Fred's shoulder and closed her eyes. The other teens had stepped up so that they were closer to her.

Aurors had shown up and Charlie knew Harry had handled it. When he came back in, he told them that they would have to answer some questions later but that it had been agreed that they would all return to The Burrow.

As soon as they returned there, Molly had begun to bustle about, making tea and bringing out refreshments.

"You'll of course stay here tonight." Her invitation actually sounded more like an order. She paused in front of Fred and Danni and looked teary for a moment. "I just can't believe it." she said, touching both of their heads.

"Me, neither." Danni finally spoke. She looked at Molly. "Hey, you're not a demented spell crafter that practices her somewhat insane spells on her children and house elves, are you? And has really hard to read handwriting?"

"No!" Molly was horrified by the question.

"Good. You would be surprised how often that comes up in discussions about grandmothers." Danni sipped her tea and absently rubbed her leg under the table. P.L. cleared his throat and tapped his wrist. Danni nodded and, reaching into her pocket, pulled out a pair of vials. She fumbled with the tops before sighing and handing them to Fred who popped the tops off on the first try.

"Got your chaser?" she asked.

Danni snorted. "Doesn't help and we all know it. Remind me why these things taste like three day old boudin that's been left in the sun?"

"So that you will be super careful so that you never have to take them ever again." Fred shrugged. "I guess."

"Bottoms up." Danni toasted the table at large with the first potion and downed it. She made a face and then downed the second one. She drank a large amount of tea immediately.

"We actually thought we would get caught a day ago." Brandon commented casually. "We were getting a bit concerned about how we were going to get Danni her potions if it took much longer."

"I can brew that with my eyes closed." Jason scoffed.

"Please don't." Danni said. "Keep your eyes _**open**_ when you brew for me."

"Yes, dear." Jason kissed her cheek.

Everyone sat in silence when the two were done bantering. Danni tapped her fingers on the table, her face pensive.

"What potions are you taking?" Hermione asked.

"Nerve regrowth and painkiller." Danni replied automatically. "I got done taking the muscle ones a week ago. And, thank God, the bone regrowing ones within a day. I have take the nerve one for another week and the painkiller... I don't know. I'd like to say I can stop now but I don't think that's a good idea just yet. I push it as far as I can anyway but my leg really hurts at the end of the day."

"My goodness." Molly shook her head slowly.

"She almost lost her leg." Clarice explained quietly. "And if that spell had hit a few inches higher..."

"But it didn't." Danni reminded her. "And I did keep my leg and chances are, I will be fine and walk just fine in another month or so. And then this thing," she lifted her cane. "Goes the way of that horrid chair."

"Burned to a crisp and danced around in the backyard." Fred and Danni slapped their palms together.

"I think the salve Tante Marie gave me is working great on the scars, too." Danni continued. "I may show my legs again someday."

"You shouldn't be ashamed of your scars." Ethan told her. "They just prove that you lived through it."

Danni smiled at him. "Thanks. I'm not ashamed but they're still gross."

"They are not!" Ethan insisted.

"And how did you see her scars?" Marcel demanded.

"Where are her scars?" Charlie asked.

"From her ankle to her hip." Audrina answered.

"How did you see her scars?" Charlie demanded.

"I visited her in the hospital!" Ethan yelped. "And I saw her in a pair of boxer shorts! And a t-shirt! She was wearing a t-shirt, too!" Charlie glared at him. Danni looked ready to crawl under the table.

"Awkward." Jason said in an undertone.

"So you work with dragons, do you?" Fred blurted to Charlie.

"What? Oh, yes. I do." He tried to catch Danni's eye. "Your mother did, too. It was where we met."

Danni looked up. "Oh yeah? I want to work with dragons someday." There was a glimmer of excitement in her voice. Charlie saw his opening and began telling her about the different dragons he had worked with in the past.

When they finally emerged from their discussion, the kitchen was empty of everyone else.

"I do believe we have bored them out of the room." Danni drawled, sipping her now cold tea.

"It happens." Charlie shrugged. They both listened a moment and heard everyone laughing and talking animatedly, getting to know each other.

"So... where do we go from here?" Danni asked. She looked younger than her age when she asked that question.

"What do you mean?" Charlie wasn't sure which aspect of their lives that she was asking about.

"You're not gonna move to New Orleans, are you?" He shook his head. "Didn't think so." She looked down at the table. Charlie wasn't sure what to say. For a moment, he was tempted to announce that he would move to New Orleans if that would make her happy.

He had seen how close she was to her friends. They were more than friends; they were her family.

More of a family than he was right now.

"Hey. We'll work it out." Charlie touched her arm and she looked up at him. "Let's just focus on getting to know each other right now and we'll work out the rest later."

"Yeah. Later." She thought a moment. "What- what should I call you?"

"I want you to call me 'Dad'." Charlie told her cautiously. "But I understand that it may be a bit soon."

"Yeah, just a bit." Danni admitted.

"How about you call me Charlie until you're ready for something else?" he suggested. He hesitated. "You know that your mother, she didn't name you Danielle."

"I- yeah. I know. Now, I do." She looked at the table and swallowed. "I lost a lot tonight. I mean, I gained a lot, too, but I lost a lot of things that I never thought would go away. I- I get that my- my mother named me something else but can I please keep the name I'm used to?"

"Of course you can." Charlie nodded. "I wish that you weren't hurt in this but you have to know, I am so happy you're here." She looked up at him and sucked her lower lip in. "I've thought you were dead. I found out about you during an awards ceremony and at the same time, I found out you were, well, dead. Last year, we figured out that you weren't. We've all been looking for you.

"You don't know me and I don't know you... but I want to." He caught her eye. "I hope you want to, too."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. That'll be... that'll be nice." She hesitated and then, after a deep breath, said, "My mother didn't name me Danielle Isabella Montague, or rather, Lestrange. So what did she name me?"

"Fiona Charlotte Kelley." Charlie smiled. "If I had known, it would have been Fiona Charlotte Weasley."

Danni blinked at him and then shook her head. "I can't win."

"Fred said you would say that." Charlie chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "From D.I.M. to F.C.K."

"All I need is a 'U' name in there." she giggled. "What's a good one? Ursula?"

"Udele."

"Uma."

"Ursa." Their voices rose as they both laughed.

"Undine!" Danni was holding her stomach she was laughing so hard as she shrieked this last name. Charlie held up his hand.

"Wait, I know who will know." he grinned.

Danni nodded eagerly.

"Val!" Charlie called. "I know Mia had another name that she didn't put on the birth certificate! What was it?"

"It's Umeko, after your grandmother, but I wouldn't let her put it on your birth certificate!" Valentine yelled from the living room. "But in her own mind, your full name was Fiona Umeko Charlotte Kelley! She said it was to make damned sure that you and your father got married and changed your name!" Charlie and Danni looked at each other and cracked up again. This time, they could hear outraged gasps and echoing laughter coming from the living room.

When they finally stopped laughing, Charlie wiped his eyes. "That's just like Mia. You would have liked her. I mean, she's your mother so you would have loved her, I'm sure, but I think you would have liked her."

"You'll have to tell me about her." Danni smiled. They both realized at the same time that Danni wouldn't meet her mother and the smiles faded from their faces.

"So."

"So."

They both tapped their fingers on the table and looked away.

"You two are identical." snorted Bill from the door. "This is hilarious."

"What?" both asked and then glanced at each other.

"You two. I've been watching you and you have all of these little mannerisms that are so funny." Bill beamed. "You look like Mia but you act like Charlie! This is great!"

"Have you met my older brother, Bill?" Charlie asked. "He thinks he's funny."

"Hey." Danni held out her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Not as nice as it is to meet you." Bill smiled, taking her hand. "Charlie, you need to go contact the Kelley's. You can get through to them." He sat down at the table. "I've gotten to speak to one of my newly found nieces already. I think it's my turn to talk to this one, too. Because pretty soon, they are going to pull her in there to look at pictures and share stories and all those fun things."

Charlie nodded and offered his daughter a smile. To his delight, she smiled back.

Everything was going to be alright. For the first time in fifteen years, he was sure of it.

* * *

_**May 2nd, 2013 Dublin, Ireland**_

Daniel Kelley was an insomniac. Had been for most of his life. Rikko teased him about it, saying that he was just afraid that he would miss something while sleeping.

He didn't deny it and didn't let her know how close to the truth she actually was.

It was for this reason that he was actually awake when the floo flared to life and he saw the face of the man that he actually did consider his son-in-law.

It had been a rough week. It was almost the fifteen year anniversary of the day that they had lost Mia and Fiona. He had thought that the grief would fade but it didn't. The one thing that helped was the fact that Fiona was alive somewhere.

He hoped.

He had spent a good portion of yesterday evening tapping on the frame of the portrait of his daughter and her dragon. It seemed like only yesterday she had hatched Puff in the fire pit in camp. There had always been something off about that dragon. Dragons were not supposed to be trainable but Puff had been.

Well, trainable to Mia. That dragon would have eaten anyone else.

But they were gone now. Mia murdered by a Death Eater and Puff most likely had met his end via poachers.

Sometimes, Daniel felt his age.

And sometimes, he felt very young; hopeful and full of life.

When Charlie appeared in the fireplace, beaming, he had known. In that instant moment of realization, Daniel had felt as young as he had the night he left home and hitched a ride with a family of acrobats.

"You found her." Daniel's book fell to the floor, forgotten.

Charlie beamed and nodded. "We found her."

Daniel stood and then sat and then stood again. "Where is she? Do we have to go get her? Is she alright?" he blurted.

"She's here at my parents' place and she's fine. Well, there's a lot to tell you but she's here." Charlie smiled again. "She's really here, Daniel. She looks just like Mia."

Daniel swallowed past the lump in his throat and nodded. "I'll get Rikko and we'll be there soon." He smiled wider. "We'll be there."

As he started for the stairs, Daniel looked at the portrait hanging on the wall. Mia slumbered against a sleeping Puff, her head tucked against his neck.

"We found your baby, sweetheart." Daniel told the sleeping portrait. "She's home now."

He waited, thinking that perhaps this would be the day that the memory of his daughter would awaken and speak to him, but she continued to sleep.

She didn't even change her breathing pattern.

Daniel sighed and headed for the stairs. Someday, he really was going to have to force that artist that had done the painting to come and look at it. His granddaughter deserved to at least meet an aspect of her mother after all.

He started to grin.

She was home.

* * *

_**May 2nd, 2013 The Burrow**_

The couple that stood together staring at Danni were obviously related to her.

The man had her eyes.

The woman her chin.

Danni edged closer to Bill when the man's eyes filled with tears and the woman's chin wobbled. Charlie hurried back to her side, holding two cups of tea.

"Daniel! Rikko!" he greeted them. "Meet Danni." He indicated his daughter, putting emphasis on her name and then turned back to her. "Danni, this is Daniel and Rikko Kelley, your grandparents."

Danni struggled to rise and then simply accepted Charlie's assistance.

"It's so nice to meet you." she said politely and extended her hand. She tried to take a step but stumbled. Charlie caught her quickly. "I'm sorry." She said with as much dignity as she could muster. "I'm afraid that I put too much stress on my leg today and it is giving me some problems or I would come to you."

Daniel strode forward and took her hand. It was very obvious he would have liked to have hugged her. "I am so happy to see you again."

She nodded, not sure what to say. Rikko did not control herself and wrapped the girl in a tight hug.

"You look so much like your mother." She said against her shoulder. "I knew the first time that I saw you that you would be beautiful. I was right."

When her grandparents stepped away to sit down, Charlie caught Danni's hand. "Hang in there. You're doing fine. It's going to be okay." he whispered. She nodded, looking at him with that lost look again.

Charlie was proud to see her smile through her discomfort and attempt to carry on a conversation even though she obviously wanted to run away.

He made himself a promise that he would make this okay for her.

* * *

_**May 3rd, 2013 The Burrow**_

Everyone had finally left or gone to bed late the night before. The Kelley's had found a place to stay in Ottery St. Catchpole and swore that they would be back in the morning. The Larkin's had gone back to Hogsmeade and also promised to be back the next morning. Before he had left, Ethan had gently pushed Danni's hair behind her ear and whispered, "Whatever name you go by, you're still my girl. You're still you." She had smiled gratefully and kissed his cheek.

Charlie had elected not to physically remove one of his oldest friends' sons from his daughter... this time.

Danni, Fred and Clarice had been tucked away in one bedroom while the boys were in another. Somehow, room was actually found for their parents, too.

Of course, the moment that all adults had ceased to move around, The Six moved into one room together.

"We'll be separated." Fred began to pace.

"No. We won't." P.L. said simply.

"How won't we?" Fred snapped. "Well, five of us will stay together but Danni's gonna be taken away from us."

"Fred. Calm down." P.L. stood and intercepted her. "We will not be separated. I refuse to accept that possibility."

Fred laughed. "And Emperor Pel has spoken?"

"Yes. He has." P.L. nodded.

"We'll announce we're going to Hogwarts." Everyone looked at Danni. She sighed and shrugged. "I'm not too crazy about being stuck in a boarding school in the middle of nowhere but what are our other options? At least we'll be together."

"That's what matters." Brandon agreed, putting his arm around Danni.

"If they'll take us." Clarice rolled her eyes. "We sorta led some of their students into wickedness."

"Yeah, we totally did. But they were the ones that supplied the drinks." Jason grinned.

"And if they don't agree to send us, well, we got away from them once. I suppose we can do it again." Clarice sighed. "Eventually."

"Our parents may not pay for it." Fred pointed out.

"Then **_we'll_** pay for it." Danni said defiantly. "We all have accounts in our names with money that we were paid for those magazines and junk. There were investments and the returns were put into the accounts. I figured we would save it for later but this is important."

The others nodded.

"How much are we talking?" Jason asked carefully. "I don't know how much money we actually got for all that."

Danni waved her hand. "Enough that we can pay whatever is needed for us to stay together. I mean, I'm not saying we're looking at a life of luxury but we have more of a cushion than most people do."

"We can do this." Fred started to smile.

"We can do this." Danni smiled back.

"Danni, you doin' okay?" P.L. asked, glancing at her.

She shrugged. "How exactly am I supposed to be? I mean that. Not being a bitch. I really don't know how I am supposed to be right now. I think I'm in shock. I know I'm not okay. I want to scream. I want to cry. I want to wake up and be at home in New Orleans and everything is the same as ever. I want to- I want to talk to my dad- well. I want to talk to Randal- wait. Rodolphus. Oh whoever the hell he is! I want to talk to him." She looked up suddenly. "I am so stupid." She dove for her bag and began digging through. "Can't believe I forgot about this!" She pulled a cell phone from her bag and held it up. "I can!"

"What will you say?" Fred asked softly.

"Why? How? Why?" Danni waved her hand and pulled her wand out of the bag as well. She took a deep breath and began casting the charms that would insulate the phone from magical feedback. "I have got to figure out how to make these damned charms work for longer. I mean, the one we use on the tv works for longer so why not on these? Has to be something to do with how it works." she muttered, turning the phone on. She smiled in triumph as it came to life. "I think I deserve some answers, don't you?"

"Yeah. I think you do." Brandon nodded.

She punched in a number and then cursed when it went to voicemail.

"You need to call me." she snapped into the phone and then ended the call. She looked at her friends, her eyes feverish. "He'll answer my questions."

Fred touched her arm. "Yeah. He will."

Danni looked back at her phone and the others exchanged looks over her head.

None of them believed he would.

* * *

_**May 3rd, 2013 Hogsmeade**_

It was still storming.

Alessa Larkin stood in the window, staring out at the storm, her arms wrapped around her middle, humming. When her twin joined her at the window, she leaned her head onto her sister's shoulder.

"Full circle." they whispered in unison. "No stopping it now."

The only person that heard them didn't say a word.

Arianna Larkin lay in the dark, watching her twin sisters, her green eyes burning.

Full circle.

God help them all.


	8. Chapter 8

_****Own nothing. Get nothing. You know the drill on this disclaimer. Thanks for the patience!****_

_**May 3rd, 2013 The Burrow**_

Molly Weasley was in her element. She had a houseful of people and she was in full command of her kitchen.

Her children had been trickling back in since the sun rose, bringing their families with them.

Her new family members had come down in a group, still yawning, to be greeted by the sight of breakfast.

She had called the Larkin Family and... _**invited**_ them to breakfast in a manner that gave no room for argument.

She had just smiled when some of them appeared half-asleep and in pajamas with their siblings dragging them.

The Kelley's had come with no arguments or complaints and seemed content to look at their granddaughter while sipping juice.

Molly stood at her stove and beamed.

Right now, life was very good.

Unnoticed by anyone from England, however, there was a less than good moment going on.

"What is that?" Danni breathed to Fred, eyeing one of the dishes in front of her.

"I have no idea." Fred breathed back.

"I think those are kippers." Jason breathed.

"Their heads are still on." Clarice advised them without moving her lips.

"I know." Brandon watched the dish suspiciously.

"They're looking at me." Danni leaned away from the dish.

"They want to eat your so-o-o-o-o-o-oul." Fred mock wailed without moving her lips.

"They do. I can tell." Danni whispered.

"Everything alright?" Molly asked cheerfully.

"Super!" The Six said in unison with bright smiles.

"Just don't know where to start." Clarice said honestly.

"Tuck in!" Molly encouraged.

"Boudin." P.L. sighed once she had moved on and took some breakfast.

"Okay, you guys keep referring to that. What is boudin?" Ron asked curiously.

"It's a cajun sausage." P.L. replied. "It actually tastes okay unless you know what's in it."

"Which is true for most sausages... and hot dogs." Clarice admitted. "And anything from a fast food place."

"But we watched it being made once." Fred sighed. "_**Such**_ a mistake. We saw too much. Lost part of our childhood that day. I still have nightmares."

"Remembering boudin reminds us that you don't question, you just seize it and enjoy it." Brandon explained. "We questioned boudin and it was ruined for us. So, we don't always wonder about what something is when we just want to enjoy."

"If you haven't noticed, we are all way too curious for our own good and sometimes, it bites us in the butt." Fred made a face.

"Oh my God this is so good." Danni closed her eyes in bliss as she sampled her meal. "Oh my God! I don't want to ever stop eating!"

"Parental Units, while Danni is blissful and ecstatic and you are distracted by watching her and laughing at her obvious enjoyment of the meal," Clarice began.

"Oh my God!" Fred groaned. "_**So**_ good!"

"And we have lost Fred." Jason rolled his eyes.

"_**Anyway**_." Clarice frowned at her friends. "As I was saying, we need to discuss things with the six of you when breakfast is done."

"Yes. I think we should all talk." Charlene agreed. "We have a lot of things we really need to discuss. And not just the fact that the six of you decided it was a good idea to run off to another country while our backs were turned. And believe me, we _**will**_ be discussing that."

"It _**was**_ a good idea though." Brandon pointed out. "Fred and Danni found their family. We found out about Randal. Danni found her father and her mother's family. We didn't die."

"It was actually much safer than going to class." Fred sighed. "No one tried to push us under a bus or feed us to gators or hex us with weird spells or turned us funny colors or knock us off brooms or-"

P.L. cleared his throat and she stopped.

"To be fair in another way, we really did think you would find us before you did." Jason said carefully. "I mean, we left a trail a mile wide."

"We used our debit cards for God's sake!" Fred blurted.

"So we don't need to pay the Larkins' back for anything?" David asked carefully.

"God no. They paid for everything themselves." Bridget snorted. "I think we may actually owe them."

"How in the world did you manage that?" Marcel asked, stunned .

"We have our own accounts." Danni shrugged. "Da- uh, they were set up for us years ago. Some investments were made and now, well, we could afford this little adventure really easily."

"Oh no." Audrina moaned and ran her hands through her hair. "We have to figure out our finances."

"We'll hire an accountant to figure it all out." Peter soothed her.

"Just do it yourselves. Not hard." Danni shrugged.

"Sweetheart, those investments and accounts are no doubt quite complicated and we're really not sure how Ra- how they were handled." Audrina said carefully.

Danni shook her head. "No. They really aren't. Not the things that aren't handled directly by the investment people at the bank. I'll grab the books later and show you all of it. And you can just call Carson Hughs and ask him for help on the hard junk. He's our contact person at the bank."

"I don't think it's a good idea for a fifteen year old to act as our investment manager." Nadine gently told her.

Danni looked up and lifted her chin. "I haven't heard any complaints in the last two years. In fact, you've all seemed quite satisfied."

There was silence around the table.

"What are you saying exactly?" Peter asked finally.

"He has been obsessed with those books of spells his mother left him to the point that he sometimes forgets to eat." Danni stabbed at her plate. "Do you really think he takes time out to handle money? I take care of what I can and slide the papers back for him to sign. Like bills and stuff. If it's too hard or whatever, I pass it on to Carson. He taught me about what he did when I was little. It's not hard."

"I think we should talk about all of this later." Nadine said suddenly. "I have a feeling it will be a very long discussion."

"After breakfast discussion seems to be getting bigger and bigger." Charlene commented.

"Oh, uh. You should be there." Danni looked at Charlie. "Because, you know."

"Yeah. I know." Charlie nodded and offered her a smile. She managed a smile back.

The breakfast was almost done when a song filled the air. Danni froze, her eyes growing wide. Fred dropped her fork. P.L. set his juice back down. Brandon got still. Jason clenched his fists. Clarice's lips parted in surprise.

"What in the world is that?" Molly asked, looking around.

"Danni?" Clarice whispered. "You alright?"

She nodded and slowly reached into her pocket. She pulled a cell phone out and placed it on the table, staring at it.

Everyone looked at it.

"How in the world is that working?" Hermione asked, startled.

"Simple insulating charm that shields it from magical energies. Only lasts for a little while before I have to redo it." Danni whispered, staring at the screen. It stopped ringing for a second and then started again. "I can do this." She reached a trembling hand toward it.

"If you don't want to, I will." Audrina offered gently but there was a fire in her eyes. "I don't mind at all."

Danni shook her head. "No. I need to do this."

"What is it?" Ron asked blankly.

"That's Randal." Fred told him. "We've been waiting for him to call since last night."

"Let someone else answer!" Harry cried but it was too late.

"Hello?" Danni said softly. She listened a moment and then said, "I'm fine. No. They're fine, too. We're all here. Yes. I took my potions this morning. No. It doesn't hurt. Yeah. No, I am pretty sure that they know now. Don't think that was something that could get hidden. Yeah. She's pretty pissed. No. I'm not just using offensive slang terms to irritate you. Aunt Audi is _**beyond**_ mad. Aunt Audi is _**pissed**_." She was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. _**That**_ pissed." She listened a moment.

"Yeah, about that. Why exactly did a paternity spell show that Charlie Weasley is my father? And- and- and what the hell?! Come on! I have been _**really**_ cool for years with the whole former Death Eater thing and the keep all the secrets thing and do you really think I didn't figure out that you were teaching me spells that were way out of the league of most kids and _**hello**_? You taught me to blow things up and to- to do other things that I didn't need to be doing! But I think you need to come clean now! Where did you get me? And I _**know**_ it wasn't coincidence that we ended up with Aunt Audi and Fred! Not that I'm complaining but still! You need to tell me! Because Aunt Audi is not the only one that's hurt and confused and pissed right now!"

Peter reached over and yanked the phone from Danni. He hit a button and Randal's voice filled the room. Danni opened her mouth and then closed it, her shoulders slumping.

"I always thought I would do this when we were face-to-face so I could make sure you understood. But we'll have to do it like this. You have to know that I love you, Danielle." he began. "You're my world, sweetheart. You have been since the day I saw you for the first time.

"I got knocked out a window during the battle at the school. And a wall fell on me. And I don't want to discuss how my wand survived. That redheaded bitch had killed your mother, or so I thought. I knew about Audrina and Fred. I went to their apartment in London. I was going to... I don't know what I was going to do now. I can't remember. But they weren't there. An old lady there had where they were going written down and she gave it to me. So I headed to Dublin."

"An old lady?" Danni asked, dread in her voice.

"Ah yes. Good cook. We had tea and a lovely visit. I do wish I could have gone back to visit. She packed me snacks when I left." Audrina exhaled in relief at the insinuation that the woman was alright.

"It wasn't hard to find her. Even when she was someplace else, I could find her. She-she was my only friend. And I know she was just as lonely as I was. And that was when I realized something. My Bella wasn't dead. She had been stolen from me and hidden away. But the connection was there. In the mornings, we would sit in the park. She would drink her morning tea or coffee and I would sit on my bench and the silence wasn't uncomfortable, it was actually quite nice because it wasn't Alone Silence.

"She wasn't My Bella from how she had been after Azkaban. She was My Bella from when we first married. And I went to where she was to talk to her. To tell her that it was a miracle that we were both alive and to take her away. To someplace safe." Danni was hugging herself at his words. Everyone in the room was frozen as if struck by spells.

"She was in the shower when I got there. It was such a small flat. So much less than what she deserved, but it was comfortable. And there you were. You were in a bassinet, cooing to yourself while your mother bathed. And when I picked you up, you knew. You weren't scared at all. You knew who I was." They could all hear the smile in his voice. Rikko's hands were clenched into fists and Daniel seemed frozen. "I loved you from that moment on.

"When your mother came out, she didn't remember me. They had stolen her memories. But I didn't realize that at first. She was so reserved with me. I remember how she was. Her hair was wet and she smelled like flowers. She was wearing a red. She was holding a towel... I was going to make her a cup of tea. To calm her down so we could talk about our future. I turned my back to the door... if I hadn't done that, it would have all been alright. I regret it to this day. It's one of the things I wish I could fix. I can't but I wish I could."

"What-what happened?" Danni managed to choke out.

"I didn't hear the door open!" he blurted. "She came up behind us and she yelled. I just-I just reacted! And she flew across the room! She hit the wall, head first. And your mother was screaming, telling me it was her friend. Julie or something like that."

Tears were pouring down Valentine's face as she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep silent. Jack put his arm around her.

"I told her it was an accident! And after all the people she killed, I think she should have forgiven me the one! It was an accident but she lost control! She was demanding that I give you to her and yelling at me and telling me her name was something else. She was so confused! And there was a picture of her with one of those Redheaded Bastards and I know now that it was a trick but I was so angry! I- I accused her of untrue to me. She was so confused. She didn't even know who she was, let alone who I was. She fought me. With her bare hands! I pushed her away but she came back. She-she broke her arm but she kept attacking me. And I lost control when she clawed my face. You were screaming and she was- she was attacking, grabbing for you, and I lost control!

"I swear to God, Danielle, it was an accident. I don't even remember doing it but then she was there on the floor and there was- there was so much blood. And she was- she was _**broken**_. Everything was broken but she was- she was still alive. She was still trying to take you from me. And begging me not to hurt you. And the other girl was dying and she was dying and you were screaming... I had to, Danielle. But it will be alright. I'll fix it. I promise."

"W-what about Aunt Audrina?" Danni croaked. Charlie was staring at the phone with a look that did not bode well for her phone or the man on the other end.

"It took time. I knew where she was but she didn't come back. That would have made life so much easier. But we went there. I called in favors and made a few investments. I made my own luck, you see. I needed her to be destitute. Desperate. And she was. It wasn't hard to arrange." Audrina fell into a seat, stunned. "And then, all I had to do was walk in and offer her the world. She took it. She was scared and alone. I offered her rescue.

"I was going to destroy her one piece at a time. I was going to make her completely dependent on me. She and her child. That part was easy. Fred desperately wanted and needed a male influence in her life and Princess did, too. She needed someone to make her feel like she wasn't alone. And one night, I had her where I wanted her. I could have destroyed her. But I couldn't do it." He sounded befuddled. "I couldn't. Somewhere along the way, I had come to care for Princess. I couldn't hurt her. I actually wanted to protect her and Fred. We're family."

Audrina was crying softly.

"She found out the truth one night. The night the Idiot proposed. We fought. You got hurt, Danielle. I'm so sorry about that. But I took it all away. I fixed it. I always fix things for our family. I always will." He sighed.

"At the World Cup... I saw a girl I had seen before. It was her eyes. How could I forget those eyes? Of everything I've seen and done, what that bastard made her do to her family... I have nightmares about it. It was one of the most awful things I've ever seen. The last time I saw her, I didn't think she was sane. I cannot believe she didn't lose her mind.

"When we saw her, I knew that she knew me. I thought it was all over for a bit but we were alright. I didn't know what I was going to do honestly. God knows I didn't want to go mess with that poor girl. I don't think her brain could have handled another spell. Merlin knows her parents did enough to her. I may have done awful things, but I never used you as a way to experiment with spells. I had rather hoped she wouldn't remember who it was that let her go that night. I suppose she did though." Arianna was pale and her hands were trembling until she clenched them into fists. Sheridan wrapped her arms around her sister from behind and held on tight, whispering in her ear. Henri put his hand on James's shoulder and squeezed.

"Randal? It's Clarice." Clarice leaned over. "I have a question."

"Ah, Clarice. Of course." Randal sounded pleased. "I always liked you, dear."

"Thank-you." Clarice swallowed. "When we met you, my father didn't pay attention to me. I don't think he even liked me. He once called me 'Candice' for like a week." Peter looked stunned and looked around for clarification as to what she was talking about. No one would meet his eye. "And then one day, he started, well, loving me. Did you have anything to do with that?"

"I always assumed that you got your intelligence from your mother." Randal said thoughtfully. "You certainly did not get it from your father. Yes. I'm sorry, dear, but you deserved more and you would have come to resent my Danielle. I couldn't have that. So one night, I paid him a visit and I, well, fixed things."

"Oh, sweet Jesus on the cross." Charlene breathed.

"Oh God." Nadine echoed, crossing herself.

"The man is a moron, Nadine." Randal snorted. "We all know it. God help him when he slows down and loses his looks. Deal with it, Peter. I know you're turning colors from fury right now but it is quite true."

Peter was speechless with rage.

He was also purple.

"Danielle, listen to me. I have a few things that I have to take care of and then I will come get you." Randal said seriously. "I'll come get all of you. This is a mess, yes. I admit it. But I _**will **_fix it. We're a family. We need to be together. I love you. I love all of you, even the Idiot. And I will come for you soon. Just hold on until then."

"The hell you will!" Charlie finally burst. He surged to his feet, bellowing at the phone. "You murdering bastard! I will kill you! Do you hear me?! I will kill you! Stay away from my daughter!"

"She is _**my**_ daughter! You've tricked her! Altered a spell to show the results you want!" Randal snarled back. "Danielle, I love you. Soon, sweetheart. I'll be there soon."

"I am going to rip you apart!" Charlie bellowed.

"Charlie, he's hung up and the charm's worn off so you can't call him back." Danni put her hand on his shoulder. "Calm down! He can't hear you! Please!" Charlie took a shuddering breath and sank back into his seat.

The rest of The Six were edging closer to each other. When she was certain that Charlie wasn't going to assault her phone, Danni reached a trembling hand out to take it. It fell to the table with a clatter. She closed her eyes and lowered her face for a moment. Ethan put his hands on her shoulders and whispered in her ear. She nodded and lifted her face, her eyes suspiciously bright.

"That spell wasn't altered." Danni said in a broken voice. "I know because I cast one myself last night. I recognized the one you used and I-I now know why I could never get it to work. It was working just fine. If I had been standing with you, I would have seen it." She pressed her face against Ethan's arm. He petted her hair and whispered to her.

"Oh my God." Fred looked at her mother, her eyes horrified. "He hunted us."

Audrina tried to speak but no words came. "I just... I just... I let him in. I was so relieved that I wasn't alone that I just let him in. I was scared all the time and I let in the thing that helped cause that fear." She covered her mouth with her hands.

"Clarice... I didn't... I didn't really act that way, did I?" Peter asked plaintively.

Clarice sighed and nodded. "Yeah, Dad. I reminded you of Mom. And I don't think you liked me very much." Brandon slid his arm around her.

"Honey, I am so sorry." Sincerity was in his voice. She shrugged and managed a tight smile.

"He's manipulated our entire lives." Marcel rested his forehead on the palm of his hand.

"How exactly did we miss the fact that he is insane?" Charlene whispered.

"He 'fixed' it all." Audrina said in a hollow voice. "I'll bet that every time we realized the truth he just took it away again."

"Our memories... what's real and what isn't?" David asked.

They all looked at Danni. She held up her hands. "Don't look at me. I _**theoretically**_ know how to do memory charms but I've never done one alone. And don't you think that I probably had a few done on me? And yeah, I knew he was a former Death Eater and I had some suspicions about some things but I didn't know about any of _**this**_. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you guys but I didn't want you to get hurt." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "And I sure as hell didn't know exactly how he killed my mother... or that he killed her before we came here."

"Oh God. I am so sorry you heard that." Charlie turned to her. "Are you alright?"

"Not even a little bit." Danni shrugged. "But I think at this point, I am pretty much immune to shocks and surprises."

The door burst open and Rose Weasley raced in, her face alight with excitement.

"The circus is here!" she cried. "At the edge of the orchard! And they have elephants!"

"Yes, we, ah, contacted some of the others that were involved in the search." Daniel said, clearing his throat. "They were quite excited and rather close by. I suppose that they have come to see for themselves."

"Circus?" Danni asked dumbly.

"Yes, dear." Rikko smiled. "My family have been acrobats for generations. And your grandfather here joined the circus we traveled in when he was sixteen. Your mother was born and raised in the circus. Daniel owned it but we retired from traveling some years ago and leave that to the younger generation."

"Huh." Danni nodded slowly. "I come from circus folk. That explains a lot."

"That's for sure." Fred playfully nudged her.

"Don't get smug, dear." Audrina smiled at her daughter. "You were born in a barn. Well, a stable. In the same stall as my favorite mount, in fact. Stardust. I do miss that horse."

Brandon started laughing. "Oh, that Tante Marie! All these years, she was telling you that there's no need to act like you were born in a barn! She was right!"

"Hey! Shut up!" Fred tossed her napkin at her friend. "It totally gives me character!"

"Danni was born in a warehouse." Valentine commented, her voice distracted. "And if that door hadn't given way, she would have been born in an alley next to a dumpster."

"That explains so much." Brandon ducked when she swiped a hand at him.

"I come from circus folk. I was born in an abandoned warehouse. I was raised by a murderous, insane Death Eater who killed my mother. I'm sure there's a lot more I don't know." Danni said carefully. "I think I may need some therapy."

"We'll get you some." Charlie promised.

"I have a bottle of Southern Comfort in my duffle." P.L. whispered.

"Thank-you." Danni whispered back. "That may help me cope... or suppress it for one more night."

"Suppression and avoidance isn't always a bad thing. I mean, as long as you cope with it eventually." P.L. assured her.

"You are such an enabler." Fred whispered.

"Only in extreme circumstances." He smiled.

"So, can we go meet everyone?" Danni asked, glancing at her newfound younger cousin who was practically jumping up and down at the door.

Daniel stood. "Of course!"

"Can we help clean up?" Jason asked, looking at the table.

"Oh no, dears. Go ahead. We'll take care of it." Molly waved them away.

As soon as the underage members of the family had left the kitchen, Valentine, Jack and Hermione all looked at each other.

"Julie was in the flat." Jack said in a low voice.

"And he killed her." Valentine nodded.

"But there was only one body found in the flat, right?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Valentine held up five fingers. "Five bodies were found. One body, the one in the flat, was unrecognizable. Four, in other flats, were easily identified."

"I assumed it was Mia." Jack said. "But only because her wand was found and because she was supposed to be there. Julie was never on time. So I assumed she never made it."

"We all did." Valentine sighed. "The first time in her life that she was early for something and she died."

"She always did say that being on time would be the death of her." Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose. "She was right. She must have come in, saw him, saw that he had Fiona, saw Mia, tried to help and..." He shook his head.

"So where is the other body?" Valentine asked.

"What?" Charlie blurted. He was still in a partial daze from what he had just heard and was trying to work it all out...

...And not throw up. He had known that Mia had not died quickly or painlessly but to hear it described... he couldn't imagine what Daniel and Rikko were feeling right now.

"There's a body missing." Jack said carefully, watching Charlie. "Two women were in Mia's flat. One woman's body was found." He looked around. "Where's the other one?"

"Who is in Mia's grave?" Valentine sat down.

"Oh bloody hell." Ron's words said it all.


	9. Chapter 9

_***I own nothing. I get nothing. I decided not to break this into another story like I had planned originally. Some of the points of view will be different though and in some cases, I will actually be telling what was **really** going on with the kids. Hope you like it! Thanks! And if my darling son will cooperate, I may actually get these posted faster and more regularly because I am feeling inspired. I'm already cleaning up the next part to post.***_

_**Part Two**_

_**The American Invasion**_

_The first time we made love, I... I wasn't sober. _

_(and you told me you loved me over and over!) _

_How could I ever love another, when I miss you every day..._

_Remember the time we made love in the roses? _

_(and you took my picture in all sorts of poses!) _

_How could I ever get over you, __when I'd give my life for yours?_

_**-Lucky Ones by Bif Naked**_

**___**

_Way up north _

_I took my day _

_All in all was a pretty nice _

_Day and I put the hood _

_Right back where _

_You could taste heaven _

_Perfectly _

_Feel out the summer breeze_

_Didn't know when we'd be back _

_And I, I don't _

_Didn't think _

_We'd end up like _

_Like this _

_**-Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos**_

___

_In Time _

_We're all gonna trip away _

_Don't piss Heaven off _

_We got Hell to pay _

_Come full circle_

_**-Full Circle by Aerosmith**_

**Pre-May 2nd, 2013**

There was more than a little concern when mothers of British Witches and Wizards began catching their sons and daughters adding odd little touches to their clothing such as studded belts, dangling earrings, rings that encased their entire fingers from tip to knuckle and scarves that were adorned, not with house colors or team colors but deep purple, black, hot pink and, in some cases, lime green.

Then came the make-up. Not glamour charms or Wizarding make-up. Actual muggle make-up.

In some cases, even on the boys.

And then, something even odder began.

Temporary tattoos.

They were showing up in Wizard Shops but some industrious and resourceful children managed to get their hands on Muggle Temporary Tattoos.

This was followed by a sudden surge of children dying their hair. Not all of their hair. Just the ends or streaks. And not normal colors found on human heads as a general rule. Oh no. The colors were purple, blue, pink and, again in some cases, lime green.

The parents that knew what was going on didn't share with their counterparts in the more conservative sect, unaware that they were completely baffled by the change in their children. They would have been surprised to know that there was any confusion, in fact.

To them, it was just a natural part of growing up: The Imitation of Idols.

After all, hadn't there been a surge in the sales of ugly glasses and hair-dos that seemed to involve a slight shocking charm right after the Battle of Hogwarts? Some had gone so far as to actually apply fake freckles to their faces to imitate one of the heroes! Wild hair and skin blemishes had abounded for some time.

Mrs. Harriet Stout was the first of the conservative parents to discover what was going on.

She was often in the habit of coming into her son's room to put away his clothing and, shall we say, make certain that his room was in order? Especially those spots that he thought no one knew about. Why, he could leave food there and attract all manner of vermin!

It was in one of these places that she found a different kind of vermin... at least in her opinion.

It was a magazine unlike any that she had actually seen before. Oh, she had heard of them but never seen one.

On the cover were three scantily clad witches, all holding broomsticks. The name of the magazine was proclaimed in large letters above them: Quidditch World.

The witch in the center was blond and curvy with a sultry smile on her face. She was wearing a pair of tight black pants and a black Quidditch jersey that was highlighted in deep purple that fell off her shoulders. She was also wearing dangling hoop earrings and her hair was tousled in a way that made her thick curls look incredibly decadent and sultry... even the curls that were bright pink.

The girl to her left was a bit taller with long red hair and a mischievous smile. She was also wearing the Quidditch jersey but hers fell off just one shoulder. Her pants were also black but were made of a different material than the first girl. She had long, chain-like earrings and there were dark blue tips on her tousled hair.

The last girl was trouble. Mrs. Stout could tell just at a glance. Black hair with purple tips, plump lips curved into an indolent smile, heavy lidded eyes lined in black and, my God! Black leather pants! Not only did she have earrings dangling from her ears, she had a sparkling stud in the side of her nose! Her jersey was not only falling off her shoulder but was falling down so that you could see the top of a lacy undergarment and the swell of her breasts.

The girls wiggled and giggled and winked and cuddled up to each other and did not behave as properly brought up young witches should!

No doubt about it, these girls were trouble and something had to be done about it!

So she went to her Garden Club because who else would understand what a threat these young women were?

Well. First she went to her husband but he was less than suitable it turned out for dealing with this threat to the morals of young witches and wizards. He told her to calm down and that the girls weren't naked and that being interested in girls was a normal thing for boys their son's age. And then, THEN! she heard him asking their sweet, innocent son where he had gotten the magazine and did he think that they had more!

That was when she went to her Garden Club.

In the week following Mrs. Stout's horrifying discovery, the mothers of witches discovered that not only were there three scantily clad witches with broomsticks running around but three wizards as well!

Most of these mothers saw the wizards in question and didn't fuss too much.

Their fathers, however, did, when they saw one of them posing in a magazine with no shirt on so that his very developed chest and abs were shown in great detail. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the boy was wearing eyeliner and his fingernails were painted black! He also had a silver rings through his eyebrow and one ear and a tattoo on his neck!

Then, as if it wasn't bad enough that they were all flouncing around, flaunting their bodies and attitudes and odd dressing habits, there was some sort of excitement that lead to announcements that three of the group (which was universally called The Six) had been badly injured. It was even whispered that one of them, the black haired witch, was using a cane to walk these days.

There was even discussion that they would not be going to school any longer since these injuries apparently occurred in connection to their school, which had been closed for the time being.

In response, one industrious young wizard named Crispin Stewart sent a letter to The Six inviting them to come to school at his school: Hogwarts.

When it was learned that he had done this, his classmates all laughed at him. There was no way that they would come to Britain, let alone Hogwarts.

He had flushed and muttered that it had been worth a try and hoped that the letter was lost in the post so that at least he wouldn't be embarrassed in front of his heroes.

But the letter was not lost and two weeks after he sent it, a large, black raven flew in with the owls delivering mail. This caused many whispers and startled exclamations as it flew directly to the student and landed. He stared at it for so long that it got impatient and started eating his bacon before he finally, with shaking hands, removed the letter.

He read it and then looked up at the now silent hall.

"They wrote me back." he said in a shaking voice.

"Who did?" his best friend asked.

"The Six." He took a deep breath. "All of them signed it. All of them. There's even a lipstick kiss on it."

"What color is the lipstick?" A seventh year boy demanded from another table.

It was well-known that each of the witches wore different lipstick shades.

"Bright red." he replied and there were more whispers that the blond member of The Six had pressed her lips on that letter.

"What did they say?" A girl in his year but at a different table asked, her eyes wide.

"They-they said thank-you for my invitation and that they had heard about Hogwarts and that they-they are really interested in this school and its history. And they would like to speak to me further at a later date."

He passed the paper around to the excitement and joy of his classmates. His popularity, at least for the day, exploded.

On May 1st, the day before the celebration that had been planned in Hogsmeade for the 2nd of May, Crispin was walking near the lake, trying to avoid some of the chaos going on inside. People had been arriving all day and Crispin just was not in the mood for anymore people in his way.

"Crispin Stewart?" a voice asked from behind him. He turned and offered a small smile.

"Yes?" Three girls and three boys, all a bit older than him, were coming across the grounds. One of the girls was limping and leaning heavily on a cane of some dark wood with a silver dragon handle.

"I _**told**_ you it was him." hissed one of the girls.

"Shut it, Clari." one of the boys hissed back. He then smiled brightly at Crispin. "Hey! They told us up there that we'd find you down here." He had an American accent and seemed vaguely familiar. "We were hoping we could get a chance to talk to you since we need to find some stuff and you're the only person we know here."

"Here?" Crispin blinked.

"At Hogwarts." one of the girls clarified. "You know, you wrote to us and invited us and all so we figured you might be willing and able to help us out a little. Remember?"

The third girl, the one leaning on a cane looked around and then looked back. "Clear." The three boys and two of the girls removed rings while the other girl simply seemed to change. And then, all of them changed.

Crispin almost fell down when he realized who exactly was standing in front of him.

"Woh! You okay there, dude?" Brandon Hastings reached for him.

"You-you're The Six!" Crispin gasped.

"Oh, I _**hate**_ that name!" Fred Winterbourne stomped her foot irritably. "It makes us sound like some evil villain group."

"You're just irritable that you're not the Bad Girl of The Six." Danni Montague teased.

"Danni, don't make me steal your cane." Fred threatened. "Because I will. I'll feel bad and give it back but I will totally steal your cane."

"Not nice to threaten the only one that can remember the charm to unshrink your panties." Danni replied in a serene voice.

Fred gasped. "You dare to threaten my panties?! That is low! Panty tampering is wrong and- and immoral! May panties are sacred!"

"Your panties have cartoons on them." Jason Hastings rolled his eyes.

"You're just jealous that I have Wonder Woman and you don't." Fred crossed her arms and tossed her hair.

"To be fair, she _**did**_ once pour a bottle of Holy Water in her underwear drawer." Clarice Delainy reminded them. "So they may be considered sacred in some places."

"That was an accident!" Fred squawked.

"Can we have one day where we don't discuss Fred's underwear in public?" P.L. Dumas sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Or anywhere else?"

"Well, hell. I thought Fred's panties were the highlight of the day." Jason grinned. "Does that mean we can discuss Danni's now?"

"Not if you want to be awake for the rest of the day." Danni told him.

"We're sorry. So rude of us. I'm afraid we've all been drinking coffee and soda all day and not sleeping much. It makes us act silly." Clarice smiled sweetly. "Are you Crispin?" He nodded. "Super! Listen, we have a problem and not that long to solve it."

"What's your problem?" Crispin asked, staring at them in shock.

"We think that the identity of my father is somewhere around here." Fred announced. "And maybe who a woman in a picture that Danni found is. We know who she is but we don't know, you know, _**who**_ she is. Did that make sense?" Crispin nodded. It really didn't. "But see, we aren't exactly here with our parents' blessings."

"What do you mean?" Crispin asked.

"We stowed away with my boyfriend's crew when he and his band left for here." Danni said. "We did this in the middle of the night and didn't tell anyone we were there until we were halfway here. We all left notes for our parents and pretty soon, they'll figure it all out because they aren't stupid and we've already been spotted by a photographer... and they're gonna come home and figure out that we aren't where they think we are."

"So we have maybe a day." Clarice nodded. "And then, we're gonna be skinned alive by our parents."

"Except for Danni because Randal thinks she's a perfect angel that can do no wrong." Fred rolled her eyes. "He'll blame me so I'll get skinned twice."

"Yeah, 'cause no one wants to flay the gimp." Danni quipped.

"Stop it." P.L. said quietly. "It's just a temporary setback. You're getting better every day."

"Thanks, Pel." Danni replied in an equally quiet voice. They all looked back at Crispin.

"So, we need help." Clarice smiled sweetly.

"We have no clue where to start looking." Fred added.

"And quite honestly, we find all of this _**quite**_ overwhelming." Danni sighed.

"And did we mention that as soon as our parents find us we're dead? Because we are. They've been reminding us for years that they brought us into this world and can take us out, too. This time, we think they're gonna do it." Jason finished. "So we're on a bit of a time crunch."

"And Fred's father comes first." Danni added.

Crispin studied them for a moment, thinking.

"Do you know anything about him?" he asked finally.

"I know that I'm named for him." Fred smiled hopefully. "And he may have died here. Maybe."

He nodded once. "Right then. Okay. Come with me."

They ended up in front of the memorial wall. Without speaking, The Six headed to the wall and began looking.

"Here." Danni lifted her hand. "I have a Fred Weasley."

"No other Fred's on this thing." Brandon nodded.

"So let's investigate this Fred Weasley person." Fred was trying to keep the excitement from her voice. "Do you think he was related to that Weasley guy that was with Harry Potter?"

"I think we should get some other people involved." Crispin interjected.

"Who?" All six said in unison.

"My House." Crispin smiled proudly.

And that was how The Six ended up standing in the middle of the Hufflepuff Common Room.

"And we have to find out about Fred Weasley." Crispin finished his explanation.

"Professor Longbottom would know." Felicia Hart said thoughtfully. "I mean, about his personal life. We _**all**_ know who he was."

"Who was he?" Fred asked.

"Co-founder of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes." Felicia said. "Died in an explosion here in the castle during the Final Battle. Did a whole lot of things for the war."

"We can try to catch Professor Longbottom after dinner." Crispin suggested. "I mean, dinner is about to start."

"I think we're gonna sort of stand out a bit." Brandon said. "Once we open our mouths, I mean."

"Oh, we'll put you in robes and keep you with us." Felicia waved her hand. "No one ever pays attention to us. We'll be fine. Just don't talk too much."

And so, The Six found themselves sitting in the middle of the Hufflepuff table, back under their glamour charms and wearing Hufflepuff robes, having a lovely meal.

"I could get used to this." Danni smiled, helping herself to some steak.

"You should try breakfast." Courtney Samuels told her.

"You can stay with us tonight if you don't want to sneak out and get back to wherever you're staying." Crispin suggested. He liked the looks of respect he was getting right now. Even though The Six had explained that the only reason that they were famous was because of their parents and they really didn't think that they deserved fame, they had it and Crispin had been the one to bring them to his house. The fact that they were just as cool and friendly as he had imagined didn't hurt, either.

"I thought we were gonna go find this Professor Longbottom person." P.L. frowned.

"He's not there." Felicia scanned the table. "Probably at home already. He's not a big fan of this anniversary."

The Six looked at each other.

"Send word." Danni said.

"Probably freak." Fred made a face.

"Exactly what Sheri told us not to do." Brandon snickered.

"Expect us to." Clarice shrugged.

"Nicer digs." Jason looked around.

"In for a penny." P.L. shrugged.

They all looked at the Hufflepuffs. "Thanks. We accept." They said this in unison.

"How do they do that?" Thomas Jones whispered.

"Did they just have a conversation?" Martin Phillips whispered back.

When dinner was done, most of the table walked outside where Danni put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. A black bird swooped down from a tree. Danni jotted a note, using Brandon's back as a table and then attached it to the bird's leg.

"Stay with them tonight." Danni kissed the bird on the head. "Be careful and don't piss anyone off." The bird squawked indignantly and then took flight.

That night, after a bit of celebratory indulgences, The Six found themselves in one of the most comfortable places that they had stayed in since this whole adventure had started: The Hufflepuff Dorms. The girls were staying in the seventh year girls' dorms while the boys were staying in the third year boys' dorm.

The girls insisted that they didn't need to make a fuss, that they would be fine with just one bed but their hostesses had not been satisfied with that. However, Fred and Danni were adamant that they would not take more than two.

"Fred and I have been sharing bedrooms since we were three." Danni said firmly. "Clarice is the one that loathes sleeping in the same bed as anyone else."

And so, two beds had been volunteered for the girls. That night, after everyone else had fallen asleep, Danni cast a Silencing Charm and turned to face her friend.

"Wild." she said simply.

"I can't believe we're really here." Fred exhaled slowly. "Is this insane? Are we really opening Pandora's box like Tante Marie said?"

"Probably." Danni allowed a small smile to creep onto her face. It wasn't exactly happy. "But I think we've gone too far to turn back now."

"You're right." Fred allowed her own smile to creep through. They lay there in silence for a long time.

"At least we aren't having to listen to Alessa and Madeline practicing Italian." Fred commented. "Why are they doing that again?"

"They said that they need to know Italian." Danni shrugged. "They haven't said why."

"I'm kinda afraid to ask for details." Fred admitted. "I'm afraid that they'll answer."

"It's probably for the best that we don't know why they do the things they do." Danni agreed. They lay in silence again.

"We'll always be like sisters, won't we?" Danni asked suddenly.

"Yeah. More because we decided to be sisters instead of an accident of birth." Fred frowned. "Why do you ask?"

Danni struggled to smile. "I just needed to know that. To hear it, you know?"

Fred reached out and threaded her fingers through Danni's. "We're sisters, Danni. Since the day we met and you shared your milkshake with me."

"And you taught me that McDonald's french fries taste good when you dip them in their ice cream." Danni smiled back.

"We've suffered from blood loss together." Fred said solemnly.

"We've cast together." Danni squeezed her hand.

"Sisters forever, Danni." Fred promised.

"Sisters forever, Fred." Danni agreed.

"I can't shake this feeling that everything's about to change. That we're standing on the cusp of something and I'm sort of scared." Fred admitted.

Danni thought about that for a moment. "Then we have to hold onto what really matters. The six of us have made it through everything else. We just have to hold on to each other."

They lay there another moment.

"We're having a Disney Moment, aren't we?"

"Yeah. We totally are. We'll be breaking into song any minute."

"Disturbing."

"I know."

"I think we should stop now."

"God, please yes."

"Night."

"Goodnight."

* * *

**May 1st, 2013 Hogwarts**

Pierre Louis Dumas (P.L. to his everyone and Pel when Fred didn't feel like enunciating) wasn't really sure when he had fallen in love with Fred. Maybe it was when they first met and she shared her ice cream cone with him when his fell. Or maybe it was when she offered that ice cream and didn't say anything about the fact that he was a grown up boy of 5 and starting to cry. It could have been when she fell out of a tree when they were 8 and sat there holding her broken arm to her chest, trying so hard not to cry, an oak snake clutched in her good hand because that was why they had been up a tree in the first place: to get a snake to put in Mallory Johnson's backpack because she was mean to Jason. If she was going to suffer a broken arm for that snake, she was not going to drop it! It could have even been at their first school dance when she looked so pretty and so girly and then ran off to ride brooms with him while she was still in her dress. When they all got caught (the others found out and joined them) she had looked windblown and happy and even in the face of adult anger, her smile hadn't left her eyes. It didn't really matter. He loved her and figured that he always would.

She, of course, was oblivious.

And he couldn't find the courage to tell her. He almost had when he thought that they were both going to die but he ended up being knocked out before he could. When he woke up, everything had been so crazy and he decided to wait.

He guessed he would always be coming up with one excuse or another unless he, as Danni so delicately put it, grew a set and manned up because sometimes Fred was oblivious enough that she wouldn't notice if her butt was on fire.

Danni had a way with words.

Fred wanted so badly to find out the truth about her paternity.

She wanted it more than anything and they all knew it. She wanted it, so they wanted it, too. That was how it was for all of them. What was important for one was important for them all. That was how they worked and how they had worked from the beginning.

When you lived like they did, you learned to read who loved you for no other reason than you were you.

Not to say that they had bad lives. Their parents loved them and gave them what they needed to survive and be happy but they grew up in the public eye because their parents were famous. It wasn't a bad life. Far from it, in fact.

They just wished that they were famous for something that they had done, not their parents.

But the problem was that only Danni had any plans for their life. Real ones, anyway. Danni was going to be a Dragon Keeper. It was something she had announced when she was 5 years old and meeting them for the first time. She had a goal and she had a plan to get what she wanted. This was a very good thing since her father refused to fund "insanity". P.L. personally thought that this was kind of funny since he was pretty sure Randal was completely insane.

Clarice wanted to be an actress but didn't have any real plans beyond that. Not how she would do it or where she wanted to be an actress (wizarding world or muggle).

The rest of them weren't sure. Brandon sort of wanted to be a writer but, at the same time, was nervous about whether or not the stories he wrote were any good. No matter how many times they told him the stories were good and begged for new ones, he was hesitant and nervous.

He, Jason and Fred had no real idea. They were good at Quidditch but none of them wanted to do that for their career. Fred was pretty good with potions and loved to cook. Jason had transfiguration down to an art and P.L. could grow anything.

They just had to figure out what to do with these skills.

The only thing that P.L. knew he wanted in his life was to share it with Fred. That shouldn't be too hard since she said the same thing.

"Life will be fine as long and you and I are together." she would grin. "Fred and P.L. against the world!"

When The Incident (as they called what had happened on Valentine's Day) had happened, he hadn't been surprised when he saw Fred peeking from behind a tree. Somehow, he had known that she would find where they were and come. He wasn't pleased that she was alone but he had known that it would all be alright.

He had continued to hold onto that belief even when he felt himself flying through the air and then painfully landing. Sure enough, when he woke up in the hospital, Fred had been in the bed next to his and they were all safe.

Okay. So they were battered, bruised and, in Danni's case, maimed but they were all alive.

And that was close enough to alright for him.

He couldn't help but think of his life so far and Fred's place in that life as he sat at the small table in the club that Clarice had found on their second night "on the run". Their not exactly willing partners in crime were dancing as well, Ethan watching their table no matter where he was in the club. Danni was sprawled in the seat next to his while the others danced.

Danni sprawled very well, P.L. admitted. When she sprawled, she looked languid and almost elegant instead of like she had just been tossed down like a sack of something. She also managed to keep a lazy smile on her face that made her look so feline it wasn't funny.

"You know you don't have to hang out with the gimp." Danni drawled, sipping her drink. P.L. grinned at her.

"I'm right where I want to be."

"Liar." Danni smirked. "We all know where you _**really**_ want to be." She glanced pointedly at Fred and wiggled her eyebrows as she sipped her drink.

Danni was someone that P.L. truly respected. She was a mystery to him but he respected her. At one point, she had been the most open and friendly member of their group.

Once.

It all changed when she was twelve. Her eyes had become shadowed and she closed herself off from all of them.

Rumors had flown through the gossip mags that Danni was getting involved with wizards, drinking and drugs but Danni had never discussed any of it. P.L. honestly thought that most of those rumors had been just gossip. Recently, she has started coming back to them and he cherished it. She wasn't the same girl she had been but she was opening up again. She had a boyfriend that they all liked and Danni seemed to be if not completely happy at least a bit happier.

The thing that made P.L. suspicious was that Randal, once the most paranoid parent of them all, was completely oblivious to his daughter's behavior. He rarely emerged from his bedroom these days. Once, Danni had been gone for two days and no one noticed but the rest of The Six. She came wandering home after two days, with a tattoo and looking like she hadn't slept the entire she had been gone. When asked where she had been, she simply shrugged and said she "had stuff on her mind" and "just needed to think".

Fred had muttered later that Danni had just wanted to make her father come out of his room again. Apparently, it took nearly dying to get him to do that.

P.L. wanted to know what he was doing in there.

He also had a few questions about some chapters in a text book from school but wasn't certain how to get those questions answered without some seriously bad reactions from everyone in their family.

Especially Randal.

That man was one creepy, creepy individual. P.L. avoided being alone with the man and had done so since he was five. There was just something about him that made the hair on the back of his neck rise.

A new remake of a very old song began and P.L. smiled.

"It's our song." Danni commented. "You should go dance."

"It's our song." P.L. replied, standing. "We _**all**_ dance." Without hesitation, he scooped the witch up into his arms and made his way across the dance floor while she laughed and slapped his shoulder, demanding to be put down and insisting that she could walk.

Once they were with the other members of The Six, he lowered her to the ground. Immediately, the others crowded in so that she was supported by their bodies and arms. Forming a sort of circle, they were all touching each other, dancing to the song that years ago, when Fred's mother had made herself truly famous by remaking a Muggle named Cindy Lauper's version of this song, they had claimed as their own. It was their song.

As the chorus began, they moved so that they formed a tight circle, their arms around each other, foreheads touching now. Though they could not hear each other over the music, they were all singing along with the song. It was more than a song: it was a promise.

_If you're lost you can look--and you will find me Time after time If you fall I will catch you--I'll be waiting Time after time _P.L. looked around the circle at his friends. In the flashing lights of the club, he could see their eyes so clearly. Fred with her dancing eyes. Clarice with her warm eyes. Danni with her mysterious eyes. Brandon with his intelligent eyes. Jason with his mischievous eyes.

They would be together forever.

It was how it was supposed to be.

He could just feel it in his soul.

A few days later, lying in a bed in a dorm room in Hogwarts School, he listened to the now familiar snoring of his two best male friends and wished that, for however comfortable all of this was, that the girls had just stayed where they were. He knew why they hadn't but it worried him to be separated. Then he smiled. Right now, Clarice would be sleeping while Danni and Fred whispered. They would have a charm up to keep everyone from hearing them but they would still whisper.

Tomorrow, everything would change, he could feel it. But one thing would be certain: Whatever happened, they would be together for it.

And they would be alright.

* * *

**May 3rd, 2013 The Burrow**

Charlie was a bit impressed by the fact that absolutely none of the teenagers were flinching in the face of the maternal fury directed at them.

In fact, they had yet to lose even a bit of their composure.

The going theme of the conversation appeared to be how worried the mothers were, how dangerous what they did was and how they were all going to end up tied to chairs for the rest of their natural lives.

"They stopped paying attention about ten minutes ago." Charlie glanced at Peter at those whispered words. The other man smiled a little and nodded toward them. "Brandon's telling himself a story, Danni is practicing some spell she picked up somewhere, P.L. is planning the rebuttal, Fred is daydreaming, Clarice is going over some script for a play and Jason is thinking about Quidditch."

Charlie looked at them. Sure enough, Brandon had a dreamy look on his face, Danni was moving her wand hand in odd motions, P.L. seemed to be drinking in their words, Fred's lips were parted and her eyes were glazed, Clarice's lips were moving slightly and Jason seemed to be concentrating very hard on a point on the wall past the adults.

"Don't get me wrong, they're good kids and they do feel bad about worrying us but they aren't sorry that they came at all. That's why they've worded all their apologies the way that they have." Peter continued in a whisper. "And, to be honest, this is a bit redundant.

"I'm Pete Delainy, by the way." he offered his hand.

"Charlie Weasley." Charlie shook his hand.

"So, our girls are going to want to live near each other." Peter continued. "Where do you live, exactly?"

"Well, I've been working on getting a place in Wales since I found out she wasn't- wasn't dead. I plan on relocating from Romania to Wales and working at the reserve there." Charlie whispered companionably. "My friend Tom supervises there so it's no problem at all getting on with that crew. I know most of them anyway. I worked there once. In fact, that's where I met Mia."

Peter nodded. "We'll have to look there as well. You may as well know, Fred and Danni are as close as sisters. Audi views them both, and Clarice, as her little girls. You'll see. Audi can live anywhere with her work and I've been toying with the idea of retiring from the pros for awhile now. Make way for the next generation. I just needed a push." He smiled a little. "This seems like one hell of a push to me." He glanced out the window in the direction of the circus. "It's good to be back home. And I have to admit that if I am working at something that enables my children can pull something like this and I don't catch on before the media does, then something's very wrong. Makes me wonder what else they've been up to that none of us caught." He shook his head slowly. "I feel like I'm waking up from a dream, between you and me. I think I have a lot of making up to do. We all do. A fresh start might be just what we all need."

"So you're staying in Britain." Charlie smiled. Peter nodded. "I'm relieved. I hated to think of taking Danni away from her cohorts."

"Like Audi's going to be willing to leave." Peter snorted. "Not a chance." He paused. "Oh, we need to pay attention. It's the kids' turn to talk. I really want to know what they have planned." He hesitated. "Just remember, you may be experiencing a miracle in having her back, but don't let her run all over you. Compromise goes both ways." Charlie nodded.

From their seats, the teenagers all came back from where they had been. P.L. glanced at them. As one, they nodded.

"We've decided that we wish to go to Hogwarts." he announced.

Charlie felt his stomach drop. She wanted to go to a boarding school?! He had just found her!

Like Hell she was!

Nadine lifted an eyebrow. "You want to go to a boarding school in Scotland?"

They all twitched a bit.

"Yes." P.L. said, his voice steady.

"In the middle of nowhere?" Charlene asked.

Clarice swallowed hard. "There's a village."

"And if we won't pay?" Nadine asked, her voice level.

"Then _**we'll**_ pay." Danni lifted her chin. "We can afford it."

"You can?" Charlie asked.

Danni looked at him and her eyes softened. "Yeah. We have our own money. It was set up for us when we were kids. I keep an eye on the accounts and we can afford it. We can also apply for financial aid if necessary. But that magazine spread we did for Quidditch World will pay for a year. And if we need to, we can always do one of those calendars that we keep turning down. One where we wear clothes. Not the dirty one."

"You will _**never**_ do that one." Marcel muttered. Charlie nodded as Peter grumbled and David scowled.

"You've never stayed at a school before. It will be different than anything you've ever done." Audrina reminded them.

Fred nodded. "But we'll be together. That's what matters."

"I see." Marcel steepled his fingers in front of his face. "Staying together means that much to you." It wasn't a question.

"Without a doubt." P.L. said simply.

"If you still want to go after we have had our say, we will discuss it further. However, I believe you should know something." David said carefully. "We weren't sure how you would take this but I'm not so worried now."

Fred took P.L.'s hand without looking. Clarice seized Jason's and Danni and Brandon did the same.

"I'm retiring." Peter said without preamble. "Been toying with the idea and talked to the others last night."

"We all agreed that it's time to move on and let someone else have a go." Charlene added.

"It doesn't matter where I live since I tour." Audrina smiled. "And I don't want to leave Britain for quite some time."

"New Orleans is my home but I have-" Nadine stopped. "You almost died." she bit her lips. "I don't feel safe there. I can't stay now. I just can't."

"We all feel this way." David admitted. "We've been discussing New York or Atlanta but there's an actual reason to stay here now."

"And there are other reasons, too, but those are the ones we can discuss at this time." Charlene smiled. "Nothing bad but we have some very nice reasons to move to Europe right now."

"We're discussing where in Britain we'll live but we feel it best that we stay near one another." Marcel glanced at Peter. He mouthed something. "Wales? What's in Wales?"

"When I found out that you were alive, Danni," Charlie jumped in. "I started looking into homes there since I can transfer to the reserve there. My friend, Tom, who incidentally is from Mobile, Alabama, is the head of the place. I've worked there before, so did your mother, and he has been trying to get me there for years. Wales is between my family's home and your family in Ireland."

There was total silence.

"We are willing to rethink the idea of boarding school." P.L. said calmly.

Fred squealed and started clapping. "We'll be together!" She knocked P.L. off the couch when she started hugging him.

Danni fell back in her seat, laughing in relief.

The others jumped up and began hugging and laughing.

"I think they're pleased." Peter commented.

"You. Are. The. _**Best**_!" Clarice shrieked and dove at her father.

"About our finances." David called over the chaos. "Can we afford to retire or do we need to go apply at a McDonald's and hope Charlie will let us live in his garage?"

"Yeah, I think you can." Danni made a face. "I mean, I just kept our bills paid, really, and made sure we weren't getting dicked around. Oops. I mean, um, being conned. But anyway, call Carson and we can go over the books and I can show you what I've been doing and what R- what was being done."

"You should have told us." Nadine chided.

Danni made a face. "No offense but I was trying to keep you guys from getting too close to- to him. Hell, I was afraid that he would know that P.L. and Brandon were in my history class." The two boys looked at each other.

"We thought we had to be wrong." Brandon admitted. "And since you never said anything..."

"We respected you and since you weren't saying anything when we saw those pictures, we assumed we were mistaken." P.L. added from the floor. He seemed content to just lie there and allow Fred to hug him.

"And come on. Death Eaters were supposed to hate all things muggle but Randal was a total television addict! And he's the one that bought us all cell phones. And muggle electronics and all that. It was crazy!" Brandon shook his head.

"Can we not talk about him? Please?" Audrina asked softly. "Not right now anyway."

"We're gonna have to talk about him soon." Nadine sighed. "Very soon."

"Yeah. Before he shows up on the doorstep to wipe our memories and take us home with him." Danni muttered.

"Don't make jokes like that." Audrina chided.

"Who's joking?" Danni asked her in a flat tone.

Any further discussion was ended by Molly Weasley calling from outside, "Dinner!" Charlie caught Danni as she headed out. "He's not getting anywhere near you." he told her firmly.

Danni smiled a little sadly. "It's okay, Charlie."

"No, it's not." He shook his head. "But I'm your father and I am not letting him or anyone else hurt you again."

She studied him and then nodded slowly. Charlie chuckled. "What?" she asked, curious.

"You look just like your mother. She would give me that look like she could see right through me. You do it, too." he replied.

Danni wiggled her eyebrows and said in a very bad accent, "Zat eez because I can! I see all, I know all! Just call me Madame Danni!" She grinned at him.

"Come on, Madame Danni, let's eat." Charlie offered his arm.

"You are getting pretty good at this dad thing." she told him as they walked. "Bribing me with food is a great start."

"You're a Weasley. Of course it is."


	10. Chapter 10

_**** I own nothing. I get nothing. Sorry I keep delaying but we are currently teething around here. It's a bit difficult and I cannot wait until he gets his teeth and goes back to his usual self! Then I can be back to my usual self. Thanks for reading! Please be patient with me. Pretty please? Thank-you!****_

_**February 14th, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana **_

Fred marched back and forth in front of the coffee shop, chewing her lip and checking her watch from time to time. P.L. was never late. _**Never**_. But he was now forty-five minutes late. And his phone was going immediately to voicemail.

That was usually what she did: Ran incredibly late and forgot to charge her phone so it went to voicemail.

And then she forgot to call people back.

P.L. never did things like that.

Fred tried calling her stepsister, Clarice, again but there was no answer. After that, she tried Brandon, Jason and Danni. All went to voicemail. Clarice and Brandon were supposed to go to a Valentine's Day Dance at their school while Danni went out to a club and Jason was supposed to be studying for an exam with his secret crush of the month that they weren't supposed to know about. They should have all answered.

Bad things had been happening in New Orleans. Bad things for purebloods. P.L. was a pureblood. Clarice was a half. Jason and Brandon were half and no one knew what the hell Danni was. No one had ever gotten up the courage to ask Randal and Danni didn't seem to particularly care. Neither did Fred for that matter. She had no clue what she was.

But bad things were happening now. Fred had an awful feeling that all the bad things were now coming to them.

Her phone rang and Fred almost jumped out of her skin. She looked down and saw one of her school friend's picture and number.

"Sophie?" Fred asked. "Have you seen P.L.?"

"Fred, it's started." Sophie coughed. "They've hit the school."

Fred's stomach plummeted. "Have you seen the others?"

"Yeah. Clarice and Brandon are here. Somewhere. Listen though. The ones that did this, they thought I was dead and they talked. Said something about the swamps." Sophie coughed again. "Fred, it's bad. Real bad. They sent people after P.L., Jason and Danni. You gotta hide. They want you, too."

Fred thought hard. Swamps. There were lots of swamps.

And then, she knew.

There was a place near the Lake that was used for parties. That had to be where they were.

"Sophie?" Fred frowned. Sophie was coughing again. "Are you alright?"

"No. No, I'm not." Sophie said sadly. "I have to go, Fred. I want to call my mom. I just had to tell you. You're a good friend. Always have been. Goodbye." The phone went dead.

There was nothing to be done for Sophie. Nothing to be done at all.

But she could do something for P.L. and hopefully the others.

Decision made, Fred strode to a dark alley, pulling her shrunken broom from her pocket. She murmured the words to activate the charm that concealed her from view and resized her broom.

She was flying over the interstate when her phone started vibrating. She looked down and saw, with no small amount of relief, Danni's number.

"Danni?" she asked, almost crying. In the background, she could hear music blaring and people yelling and laughing.

"Hey! What the hell?! Scott Roberts from school just tried to drag me out of a club and, I shit you not, tried to get a stinky, wet rag over my face! It was like some kinda bad movie!" Danni sounded infuriated. "That stupid little punk-ass motherfucking douche bag! Puffed up and tried to act all big and bad! Called me a pureblood whore, too! Fucker! I have never enjoyed kicking someone in the balls so much in my life! What an asshat! He is so frikkin lucky we were around muggles and I couldn't draw on him! If I had gotten my wand out, he would be peeing sitting down for the rest of his life! He may anyway because I'm wearing my steel toes! I think I felt something pop when I took him down!"

Never let it be said that Danni did not have a way with words and under normal circumstances, Fred would have been appreciative of her skill. But not right now. Although it did center her somewhat.

"Danni, it's started." Fred's voice broke. "They attacked the dance, I think. I think that they have P.L. and the others. I think you and I are the only ones left."

It may have taken her a moment but Danni quickly put all the pieces together. "Where? There are aurors here. I can tell them."

In a stumbling voice, Fred relayed the details and started to hang up.

"Fred, don't do anything stupid. Help is coming." Danni said urgently. "_**I'm**_ coming."

Fred hung up.

The next ten minutes of Fred's life remained a blur when they were finished. It wasn't until the next day that things became even a little clearer.

She had landed and snuck toward where she heard voices and smelled smoke. In the center of a clearing, were about a dozen robed figures, stalking around several bound and gagged people ranging in age from perhaps 12 to perhaps 60. Some of the people were in pajamas and robes. In the center of the group she saw P.L. and Jason. P.L. was glaring at their captors and there was a large lump on his forehead while Jason seemed to be working on getting his hands untied.

Fred hid behind an oak tree and shot a spell toward the ropes binding her friends. None of the captors noticed when they fell away. P.L., however, did. He glanced her way and then back again. One of the people in black robes raised a silver dagger and that was when all hell broke loose.

P.L. tackled the man, wrenching a wand from him while Jason slammed into a different man and took a wand as well. Fred began shooting hexes from the relative safety of her hiding place while Jason untied some of the others. Scared children were crying while some of the older captives tried to shield them or get them to get out of the way. Others were attacking their captors with or without wands and hexes were flying everywhere.

Fred darted from her hiding place as a curse decimated the tree. She barely dodged a curse that caused dirt and mud to explode upward and discovered to her horror that she landed at the feet of a woman in one of the black robes. The woman's face was twisted with fury as she leveled her wand at Fred and began to say a curse.

A purple light hit her in the chest and the woman flew backwards. She twitched for a moment, foam flaking her lips and then lay still. Fred twisted around to see who had just saved her and blinked in surprise. Danni was standing there, still dressed for a night of clubbing in leather pants, a corset top, high heeled boots and full make-up. Her face was completely blank but her eyes promised murder for anyone that got near her loved ones.

Fred scrambled toward her as she cast another volley of spells that sent the bad guys flying. Danni reached down and pulled her friend behind a tree. While Fred caught her breath, Danni sent a series of hexes toward the black robed people. Several people, including Jason and P.L. hurried behind the trees and crouched near the girls.

"What the hell are you casting?" Fred demanded. Danni glanced at her but didn't answer.

"Are you here alone?" Jason demanded.

"Where are the aurors?" Fred asked, more than a little desperately.

"They didn't believe me." Danni ground out. "I left a message on Dad's voice mail but God only knows when he'll check that. I called your parents, too. No answer. We're alone in this."

"What am I? Cat chow?" a dark haired young man crouched beside them.

"Oh yeah. I've got Ethan with me." Danni nodded to her sometimes/sort of boyfriend. He was wearing club clothes, too, but looked ready to fight.

"We gotta get out of here." P.L. said, looking around. "And we gotta get all of them out, too." He nodded to the other captives.

"You got any ideas on how then I am all ears." Danni ground out and sent another volley of spells that Fred had never seen before.

The fight seemed to go on forever. They dodged spells and tried to stay alive. Jason went down and Fred was, for the first time in her life, truly afraid as she and P.L. tried to stay out of the way of spells. Danni was managing to hold her own but there were so many...

"They're gonna kill us, aren't they?" Fred whispered to P.L. as they crouched behind some palmettos. He looked at her bleakly and didn't say anything. Jason was on the other side of the clearing, hidden away in the brush and probably far safer than they were.

"Get out of here, Freddie." he said finally. "Just get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you." she retorted. "All of us go or none of us do!"

"And we can't get Jason." P.L. replied. He grabbed her shoulders and looked intently at her. "Fred, you have to know something."

"What?" Her heart was racing for a new reason now. Their faces were so close.

"Fred, I lo-"

The palmettos exploded and they were flying through the air. As the dust cleared, Fred saw P.L.'s eyes were closed. A black robed figure approached them, wand drawn. Without thinking, Fred pulled her bruised and bleeding body up so that she was crouched over her best friend. She didn't know where her wand was now but had a feeling it was broken somewhere in the debris. She took a deep breath as the figure lifted its wand.

And crumbled, it's back a ruined, bloody mess.

Danni stood with her wand out, her face a blank mask again. There was blood splattered across her nose. She and Fred looked at each other for a heartbeat before Danni turned her back and proceeded to guard the pair.

"Ethan's got the others." she said over her shoulder. "I came to find the two of you."

Time moved funny for Fred as she lay there over P.L. and watched Danni deflect hexes and shoot back at the ones that wanted them dead. And then, something very odd happened. One moment, they were alone and she knew that they would die soon but then Randal was there. He began shooting the same spells as Danni and between the two of them and Ethan on the other side of the clearing, the tide began to turn. There were several pops and more people appeared, including Fred's mother. The look on her face was terrible and completely unlike the smiling, sweet face she had always known her mother to have. With their arrival, the tide turned completely.

The next thing that Fred knew, she was opening her eyes and wondering where she was. In the safety of a hospital room, she learned that her friend and teammate, Sophie, was one of the dozen people that had died that night and there was still a chance that the girl she viewed as a sister would be number thirteen.

Danni had stood over them, fighting for all of their lives until the very end. And then, when they all should have been safe, she had been wounded. Horribly, horribly wounded.

Fred had limped out of the room she was in to join all of the others sitting in the room outside of the ward that Danni lay in to just wait for word.

It had come hours later. Danni was alive and would live. The only question was would she ever walk again?

When they had seen her injuries, Clarice had burst into tears. Fred had wanted to cry, too, but the tears wouldn't come. She heard a gagging noise and realized that Brandon was throwing up.

"Get it out of your systems." P.L. said, his voice was strangled. "She needs us to be strong. So get it out of your systems before she wakes up." When Fred choked and whirled into his arms, she had felt that he was trembling, too.

She had been sitting beside Danni, wondering how it was that someone so alive and vibrant and larger than life could look so small and fragile when Danni's eyes opened. It wasn't a slow, fluttering thing. One moment, her eyes were closed and the next, they were open and intently focused on Fred's.

"We have to go to Britain." she said, her voice hoarse.

"What? Why?" Fred asked, reaching for the cup of water and then carefully moving the straw to Danni's lips.

"Thanks." Danni said after she had sipped some. "Because the dead people said we have to."

Fred stared at Danni.

Danni stared right back at Fred.

Most people would have assumed that their friend had lost their minds.

Most people would have argued against leaving the country at the word of dead people.

Most people would have called a healer.

Fred was not most people.

"When do we leave?"

Thirty minutes later, the other four were in the room and the healers, parents and everyone not them had gone. As soon as the door closed, P.L. sat down on the edge of Danni's bed and looked intently at her. His fresh scars stood out on his cheeks and forehead but instead of taking away from his natural beauty, changed from an almost angelic beauty it to something more rugged and magnetic.

He was a fallen angel now.

Fred decided that she would make sure Danni made him a charm to hide this new appearance. The last thing she needed was for more trampy girls throwing themselves at him. It was annoying to him. Not that she was jealous of it or anything. That would be ridiculous!

Fred shook her head sharply and turned her attention back to the others. P.L. was still studying Danni. Danni was gazing back at him without flinching.

"You've never steered us wrong." he said finally. "You say we have to go to Britain, we go to Britain."

"I don't want you guys to get in trouble." she replied. "And we are going to get in a lot of trouble."

Jason sighed and shrugged. "What? Like we haven't been in trouble before? If you haven't noticed, doll face, we are in a hospital right now. Last night, we got the shit blown out of us. You saved my ass, P.L.'s ass and Fred's ass. What's a little more trouble? You say we need to go to Britain, we go to Britain."

"He's right." Clarice said, nodding resolutely. "If one of us flies, we all fly. If one of us falls, we all fall."

"And if one of us goes to the land of tea and crumpets, we all go to the land of tea and crumpets." Brandon finished.

"I think they have more in Britain than tea and crumpets, Brand." Fred said, rolling her eyes.

"True. Any country that spawned Billy Idol is okay by me." Jason grinned.

"And The Sex Pistols." Danni reminded him.

"And the girls." Jason added.

"Okay, look, no problems with Britain! I repent!" Brandon held up his hands. "When do we leave and how do we get there?"

"After Sophie's funeral." Clarice said softly. The others looked down.

"Yeah." Brandon nodded. "After Sophie's funeral."

"And after I'm on my feet again." Danni added. "But I'm standing for Sophie."

P.L. nodded. "We know."

Fred put her hand out. "For better or for worse."

P.L. covered her hand with his. "We fly together."

Danni put her hand onto the pile. "We go down together."

Brandon added his hand. "Even if it's straight to hell."

Clarice placed her hand on the pile. "Even in a handbasket."

Jason smiled and put his hand on top. "We'll have a helluva time along the way."

They smiled at each other. "_Laissez les bons temps rouler._" Fred said.

Danni grinned as if she wasn't lying in a hospital bed with a ruined leg. "You know it, baby."

And they began to plan.

* * *

_**May 7th, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

They lived in a mansion.

Well, a trio of mansions but that was a mansion.

Charlie looked around as they waited for the security team went ahead of them into the houses. The teenagers were standing around chatting with quiet intensity near some flowering bushes while cats wound around their ankles, not seeming at all impressed by the size of the houses they were standing in front of.

Of course they weren't. They were used to it.

Charlie felt a burst of panic. How did he compete with _**this**_?

"It's not so big once you realize that six of us live in one." Audrina told him. He glanced at her. She smiled gently. "I can see what you're thinking, it's all over your face. And it's what I would be thinking, too."

"It's still pretty impressive." he told her.

She shrugged. "It's a house."

The last few days had been eye-opening in so many ways. During their first dinner, Charlie had looked up from his meal to see most of the table staring at him.

"What?" he asked in unison with Danni.

Bill and George started to laugh.

"Identical." George said, shaking his head.

"This is great." Bill agreed.

"Oh for goodness sake! Another one!" Molly shook her head.

Charlie looked over at Danni to see if she knew what was so funny and blinked.

She was sorting her carrots.

She had already sorted her peas.

So had he.

"They don't taste right!" they said in unison, holding up examples from their plates.

"She's done that for as long as I've known her." Audrina announced. "And she did it before then, too."

"So has Charlie. Since he was tiny." Molly nodded.

"Philistines. Their palates are undeveloped." Danni muttered and continued to sort her food.

His next moment of surprise was when he walked outside and realized that the couple kissing beneath a tree was not just any couple: it was his daughter and her boyfriend.

He immediately turned and walked back inside.

"How do I handle _**that**_?" he demanded, pointing.

"Well." Valentine peeked out. "That depends. All they're doing right now is talking. I'm pretty sure they haven't progressed past the kissing stage."

She was lying. She suspected that it had gone further. Charlie peered at his friend and tried to decide if that was just his paranoia talking or if she really was lying to protect her pervert of a son.

Who Charlie vaguely remembered liking last week.

"Try talking to Danni before you lose control and make a huge mistake that involves blowing up at her." Audrina offered. "Because she won't handle that well at all."

"You have to remember that for the last fifteen years, she's been raised completely differently than you would have raised her." Nadine added. "For the most part."

"And for the last two, her paternal influence has been non-existent." Charlene reminded him. "She's come and gone as she pleased when she pleased with plenty of people ready and willing to cover for her on the chance that any of us realized she wasn't with Randal."

The implications made him feel ill.

Thirty minutes later, he cornered his daughter for their first official Father/Daughter Talk.

Five stumbling minutes in, Danni held up her hand to stop him.

"Charlie, are you trying to give me The Sex Talk?" she asked incredulously.

He sank onto the couch and buried his face in his hands. "Yes. No. I don't know."

She sat down next to him. "I know about sex, Charlie." she told him in an incredibly gentle voice.

His head jerked up. "What?!"

She put her hand on his shoulder. "I know about sex and Ethan and I are taking things really slow."

Charlie covered his face with his hands again. "God, I wish your mother was here."

"I don't know, I think you were doing a pretty good job." Danni shrugged. "I really liked how you managed to work in Quidditch, dragons and castration."

"Thanks." Charlie groaned.

"But you really don't have to worry. I mean, obviously unplanned pregnancies happen. Fred and I are here, aren't we? So I'm not going to do something crazy. I'm too young to be a mother and you're too young to be a grandfather, too. And besides, Ethan's dad told all his sons when they were younger that anytime that they try to push for sex, remember that they have sisters and to think about how they would feel if someone was pushing them for sex. It did the trick." Danni shrugged.

"I'm sorta glad you decided that we needed to have this talk." She leaned back and sprawled. He had noticed she seemed to have a real talent for sprawling. "There are a few things I've been meaning to tell you."

"I don't think I like it when you tell me you're glad that I attempted to discuss sex and that there are a few things you've been meaning to tell me." Charlie said suspiciously.

"I acted up a lot the last few years." Danni admitted, ignoring his words. "I acted out is the better way to describe it, I think. I acted out and I got into trouble here and there and did some things I probably shouldn't have. I mean, I don't have a police record or anything like that. The tabloids took anything I did and blew it way out of proportion. I drank a glass of champagne, I was boozing it up with the best of them. I tried a cigarette, I was a chain smoking pothead. I danced with a guy at a club, I was in the back on my knees. You get the picture, yeah?"

"I get the picture. Yeah." Even he could hear the hardness in his voice.

"But the fact is that I got past that. I was freaked out and upset but didn't want to trash my life." she continued. "I'm not some freaked out, drugged up, drunken slut. I'm considered 'the wild one' or 'the bad girl' but honestly, I'm not. My grades are good, even Transfiguration which I suck at but I pass. I have hobbies. I've always been involved in things like sports, piano lessons, ballet, dueling club, all that crap. I'm not some wild, out of control person but you might read in some media outlets that I am. I don't want you to think that. I know what I want in my life and all of that isn't it. If you have a question, I want you to ask me. I won't lie to you. I'm not proud of some of the stuff I did but I did it."

"And you won't do it again." There was no question in this. It was not a request.

Danni hid a smile. "Guess you'd notice if I disappeared for a couple of days and came back smelling like a brewery."

"And I'd lock you in your room for the rest of your natural life."

"Fair enough." She turned her face so that she could look him out of the corner of her eye. "But Charlie, I want you to know something. If you have any questions about sex, please come to me. I'm here for you. It's a natural and beautiful thing and I don't want you to be embarrassed by it."

He stared at her for a moment.

"Let me start, see when a dragon loves a snitch very much..." she began, completely straight-faced.

"You brat!" he laughed. She laughed along with him. When their laughter faded, she looked at him, hesitantly.

"Charlie, what was my mom like?" she asked.

He was quiet for a moment, trying to find the words.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to-" she started, flustered.

"Mia was amazing." he interrupted. "She was the most amazing woman I have ever met in my life. I loved her. I still love her."

"Really? After all this time?" She pushed her hair out of her face.

"I'll always be in love with your mother." he said honestly. "I'll spend my life with her. Even if it's her ghost, I'll spend my life with her."

"There's never been anyone else?" she asked.

Charlie shook his head and smiled sadly. "How do you get over someone when you'd give your life for to have one more second with?"

Danni was quiet. Charlie guessed there was really nothing to say. Then, she reached out and put her hand on his.

Charlie turned his hand so that he could take her hand. With his other hand, he pulled the pouch and charm he wore around his neck.

"When I met her, she was always wearing this." he explained, indicating the charm. "The last night we were together, she put it around my neck and told me to never take it off. I never have. I gave her one I always wore. Every picture I've seen of her after that, she was wearing it." Danni smiled. "And I have carried this picture with me for sixteen years." He pulled out the old, faded and folded picture of Mia. She was smiling and laughing as always in the picture. Danni carefully pulled her hand from his and took the picture. She studied it, a smile playing on her lips.

"She looks happy in this picture. In the one I saw in New Orleans, she... she looked tired and sort of sad."

"It was the middle of the war." Charlie explained.

Danni nodded slowly and then looked quizzically at him. "What's the other one?"

Charlie smiled and handed her the other picture he kept near his heart. She blinked in surprise at the photo of the baby.

"It's you. Valentine gave it to me. I've kept it here with Mia ever since." He rested his chin on his palm. "It made me feel like I always had my girls with me."

The smile she gave him made him happier than he had been in years.

That night, he woke from a familiar dream. He was walking through fog, calling for Mia. He could hear her footsteps just ahead of him and sometimes saw a flash of red fabric or the shine of her black hair but no matter how fast he ran, she stayed just out of his reach.

He woke in a clammy sweat and walked downstairs for a glass of water. As he passed the door to the outside, he heard a strange sound. He edged closer, wishing he had not left his wand upstairs and peered outside.

A small figure was huddled on the doorstep, sobbing and trying to muffle it.

Charlie pushed the door open and sat down beside Danni. She was hugging her knees to her chest, her face pressed against her knees. He hesitated and then pulled her to him. She stiffened and then wrapped her arms around him and sobbed against his shoulder.

They sat that way for almost an hour. She sometimes choked out disjointed phrases while he stroked her hair and let her cry out the confusion and pain of the last week of her life. Perhaps even longer.

She fell asleep, hiccupping occasionally and snuffling. He stayed still, stroking her hair and feeling completely helpless. When he felt her shiver, he carefully lifted her and moved inside to the loveseat in the parlor. He lay her down gently and pulled an afghan from the back of the seat to cover her. He glanced down, prepared to tuck her in, and saw, for the first time, her leg.

He almost dropped the afghan.

He had known it would be bad. He had been told that she had almost lost it and assumed it would be bad.

But to hear that and rationally think it did not prepare him for the reality of her injuries.

Her entire leg was a mass of scars. They started at her ankle and stretched up until they disappeared beneath the sleep shorts she wore. Months later, the scars were still an angry red that bordered on purple, slicing and swirling across her pale skin. There were indentions and in some places, her skin was puckered and bunched. Her knee looked... wrong. Part of her knee was actually missing, he realized. Not a lot but enough to notice. And there seemed to be a gouge in her shin.

He swallowed hard.

And she said that the salve she used was making it look better.

He couldn't believe that she walked at all.

She moved and the shirt she wore lifted some. To his horror, he saw that faint scars appeared at the top of her shorts and moved across her stomach and waist. For some reason, it hadn't registered with him that whatever spell she had been hit with had almost obliterated the lower half of her body.

She had almost died before he found her. In all the scenarios he had imagined, he had not thought of her dying before he found her.

The thought made him go cold.

He carefully tucked the afghan around her and prepared to sit in the chair so she wouldn't be alone.

She made a choking sound and he saw another tear leak from her eye to slide onto the pillow. He made a decision and lifted her so that she rested against him. She made another snuffling nose and buried her face in his side. Charlie stroked her hair as she settled into sleep.

He didn't fall asleep again for a very long time. At one point, he felt someone lay a different afghan over him and when he opened one eye, he saw his mother.

Later that day, he found himself alone with his mother, the sound of laughing, chattering and talking coming from outside.

"You haven't actually felt like a father before last night, have you? " Molly asked. Charlie started to argue but instead, admitted to himself that she was right. Molly saw the truth on his face. "I'm glad you finally feel like one."

That day, he watched as she acted like a normal teenage girl. She laughed and joked played. And at one point in the afternoon, she strolled into the kitchen in a skirt that came to her knees. Her calves were uncovered and the scars there looked even worse in the daylight. She ignored the startled looks from the others in the kitchen and started eying what Molly was preparing for dinner.

A moment after she came in, Fred walked in with her hair in her face. Danni cleared her throat and, with a sigh, Fred pushed the red hair out of the way. She had faint white scars cutting across her nose, cheeks and forehead. After she came in, P.L. walked in with no shame in his demeanor. His scars went across his cheeks, forehead and neck. One of the scars went right through a tattoo on his neck that Charlie assumed had been covered the same way the scars had been.

He glanced at his daughter and wondered vaguely if someday soon she would suddenly reveal some tattoo she had hidden with charms. He made a mental note to ask her about it.

"Can we help?" Fred asked.

Molly looked at all of the children, saw their scars and their almost defiant expressions and reacted calmly.

"Fred, dear, will you help me with the chicken? And Danni, darling, perhaps you could cut up the carrots in a way that you and your father will find acceptable? P.L., sweetheart, would you mind terrible peeling some potatoes?"

All three were smiling as they did his mother's bidding.

"They decided to be honest about how they really look." Clarice said, sitting down beside him and taking a knife to cut up tomatoes for a salad. "I think they talked Fred into it because she's usually pretty self-conscious. Then she feels bad because Danni's are worse than hers. Then she thinks she's an ugly person inside and out. It goes on and on. And Danni's weird about hers, too. P.L. doesn't really care about his."

That evening, it was decided that Molly, Arthur, Bill, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione would accompany them to New Orleans to pack up. Ron and Harry would be working with American Law Enforcement on the matter of Rodolphus Lestrange while the others helped pack up. Valentine and Jack would personally oversee the shipping of all items from the houses and would come later in the week. The rest of the Weasley Family would be keeping an eye on the children and homes of the ones going.

It had been one of those experiences that Charlie didn't think he would care to repeat anytime soon.

They had all been studiously ignoring newspapers and all Owl Posts but as soon as they headed to the International Portkey Points, the paparazzi had been there along with excited fans.

It was dizzying, really. Flashing cameras, yelled questions and so many people crowding in that all Charlie wanted to do was run and hide.

"I hate this part." muttered Jason. The Six were quickly put in the center of the group and shielded some as they walked. Danni kept her chin lifted as reporters yelled questions about her life as the daughter of a Death Eater, whether or not she hated Muggles, what did she think of her new family and so on and so forth. At one point, Brandon and Jason stopped and turned in unison toward the reporter yelling the questions about her feelings for Muggleborns.

"Our mother's from a Muggle Family, you idiot!" the yelled in unison.

"Don't. You're just encouraging them." Danni whispered.

By the time they got away from the crowds, everyone was frazzled.

"Well. Wasn't that just too fun for words?" Fred asked sarcastically.

The crowds at the American end of the Portkey weren't as bad. There was a car waiting immediately outside and they were inside the safety of the car before the reporters really had a chance to do anything.

"There are days I wish I had just gone ahead and been a banker." David commented.

"You have problems figuring out how much money you have in your wallet." Charlene teased fondly. "I think you would have to do more than that as a banker."

"Details, details." David waved his hand.

"What is that?" Arthur interrupted, pointing out the window.

"Cemetery." Charlene replied. "One of the prettier ones, actually. We should take you guys on a tour before we leave."

"That sounds weird but around here, the cemeteries are pretty cool." Brandon explained. "They're all above ground and some are really elaborate. That one, for instance, is where a racetrack used to be."

"They wouldn't let this guy join their club so he bought the land and turned it into a cemetery." Jason finished.

"It's beautiful though. You forget you're in a cemetery." Danni added. "Stained glass, statues, there's even a pyramid in there."

"We should drive through the Quarter before we head to the houses." P.L. said suddenly.

"Oh yes! Let's!" Audrina jumped on the idea and directed the driver to do so before anyone else said a word.

It was busy and loud. Music seemed to be coming from everywhere. In front of a large cathedral, artists sold paintings and carriages stood in line. The inhabitants of New Orleans pointed out different buildings, shops and restaurants as they drove slowly and then made plans of where they would go and what they would do before they left.

It was eclectic and strange but interesting.

Finally, Peter cleared his throat.

"I think we've put it off as long as we can." he said quietly. There were nods from around the car.

"Let's do this thing." Fred muttered.

Uniformed officers were waiting in front of the iron gate in front of the middle house in the neighborhood lined with oak trees. No one spoke as they unloaded luggage and paused in front of the gates.

"We'll go in first." one of the men announced. "You all wait here."

A dozen cats had emerged from hiding places in the yard and Danni had knelt to pet each of them, calling them all by name.

"Those are yours?" Charlie asked curiously.

"They are now." she replied, scooping up a mangy black tom and cuddling him to her chest. "This is Nicodemus. That's Brutus. Isabella. Jenner. Jonathon. Justin. Timothy." She stopped naming off her cats and bit her lip. "Do I have to get rid of them?"

Charlie shook his head. "We'll work it out." He was rewarded with a huge smile before she returned to petting her cats and talking to her friends.

The two security men came back and were, to Charlie's surprise, holding bowls.

"It's clear." one announced.

"You got a snack?" Ron asked, surprised.

"No, sir. We just weren't allowed to leave without this." the second replied.

"She's in there, isn't she?" Peter winced.

"Sure is, sir." the first grinned. "Looks like she's been there for awhile. If we'd known, we wouldn't have bothered to come out."

The Six grinned and charged to the door, pushing each other playfully. Some of the cats raced after them while some slunk back into the bushes.

"Tante Marie!" Fred called. "We're here!"

"And still acting like you were born in a barn!" a voice called back. "No excuse for that, young lady! You aren't cattle! And you better not be tracking mud in!"

Charlie entered the house to see all six teenagers removing their shoes. He glanced back at his family. They looked unsure.

"It's alright." Nadine soothed. "It's Tante Marie. She doesn't bite."

"Hard." Fred grinned and headed into the house.

He followed the teens through a luxurious foyer into a grand dining room and stopped short. The long table was covered in food. An old woman was hugging the teens, her dark skin seeming to glow in the muted light of the room.

"Someone had to feed those animals, didn't they?" she was saying.

"Thank-you, Tante Marie!" Danni beamed.

"Well, let me get a look at him." The woman announced, stepping away from the teens. She marched up to Charlie and peered up at him.

She only came to his shoulder.

"You'll do." she announced after she had examined him. "Now _**this**_ is the man that fathered our Danni. This man has light in his soul. He's had his share of dark but his light comes through it. This man's soul isn't damaged beyond repair. His soul is entwined, not broken." She nodded in approval. "You'll do, boy. You'll do. I'm Tante Marie. Call me Tante Marie."

"Yes, Tante Marie." he replied dumbly. She smiled in approval and patted his cheek.

"Don't know how anyone could think that fractured man could father a girl like our girl. None so blind as those that refuse to open their eyes." She squinted. "But it took some doing for you to finally open them, I suppose. No matter." She stopped and squinted again. She muttered under her breath for a moment. Charlie didn't understand her but Nadine whirled and looked at him, her eyes wide. "Nadine! You talk to this boy! You talk to this boy tonight!" Nadine nodded dumbly.

"Yes, Tante Marie." she mumbled.

"You got rum and peppers?" Tante Marie continued.

"Yes, ma'am." Nadine nodded obediently. Tante Marie nodded once.

"Good girl. You'll be okay, boy. We gonna make you a bag and you'll be fine." She turned abruptly. "Audrina! It is about damned time you finally got that broken hoodoo off you."

Charlie looked at Danni, hoping she could explain what was going on. She leaned closer. "Voodoo isn't just a way of doing magic." she whispered. "It's a religion. Tante Marie is... she's..." She bit her lip. "If she says something, listen. Aunt Nadine, she doesn't advertise it but she knows a lot about this. So you should listen to her when she comes to talk to you. Their family is matriarchal. Anything else is up to them to tell, I'm sorry. Just listen, okay?"

"Okay." Charlie nodded.

After a meal of things Charlie had never had before but that he would not mind trying again, Nadine grabbed his arm.

"We gotta talk." she said, pulling him into a room off the main dining room. While the tall, regal woman obviously tried to decide where to begin, Charlie looked around the room.

It was dark and elegant, like the rest of the house, with tall bookshelves filled with leather bound books and framed photographs. Charlie moved to the photographs and smiled. Most of them were of the children. In one, Danni and Fred beamed at the camera and waved. They couldn't have been more than six or seven at the time. Fred's hair was pulled into pigtails that were tied with bows and Danni's hair was pulled back with a large satin bow. In another, Danni spun in circles, her head thrown back, a dress whirling around her legs, her arms above her head, laughing as flower petals fell around her like snow. All six teens crowded together, laughing happily, their arms around each other, pure joy in all their expressions.

"When did you make the vows and with who?" Nadine interrupted his thoughts. Charlie turned.

"I-What?" he asked blankly.

"Oh hell." Nadine groaned. "You didn't even realize it. Tante Marie could tell. Um, you would have made a promise, exchanged rings or tokens and sealed it with magic. I don't know what kind of vow but I do know it wasn't from our religion." She chewed her lip. "It isn't hurting you, I don't think, but it... there's something off about it. That's what Tante Marie is worried about. She also seems to believe that Maman Brigitte is involved right now. She..." Nadine tapped her fingers against a side table. "Lord, I do not want to try to explain an entire religion to you tonight. I'm tired and it'll come out wrong and then we'll be worse off than when we started. Long story short: Maman Brigitte is important in voodoo and deals with death and cemeteries. But I will let Tante Marie sort all that out. Do you have any idea about the other?"

Charlie nodded slowly. "The last night Mia and I were together, she gave me a necklace she always wore and I gave her one I wore and we... we promised to never remove them and..." He stopped and shook his head. "I've thought about that night a lot. There was something odd about that night. She told me some oaths didn't need wands and there was a dragon and I swear it felt like there was magic everywhere and I- she promised her soul would wait for me forever and I told her that night that I wanted to spend my forever with her..." he trailed off.

Nadine nodded slowly. "What phase was the moon?"

"Full." he said firmly.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Trust me. I remember." he smiled faintly.

Nadine smiled and he realized it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Well. How you two worded things explains why even her going on with Maman Brigitte didn't break it. No worries, darlin'." She started to walk to the door but glanced over her shoulder. "You don't have any food allergies, do you?"

"Not that I know of." he blinked.

"Anything you can't handle being around? I mean like herbs, scents, so on and so forth that give you headaches or hives or anything like that?" she continued cheerfully.

"Not that I know of." he shook his head.

"Oh good." she smiled. "Danni's gonna show you to a room. Sleep tight now. See you in the morning."

Charlie decided then and there that this family would fit right in with his.

And Mia would have adored them.

* * *

_**May 8th, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

"I'm going for a walk!" Danni called.

"Where?" Audrina asked, looking up from her breakfast.

"Just down the street." Danni pulled her bag over her shoulder. "I'll be right back."

"I don't know..." Charlie hesitated. "I don't like the thought of you going alone."

"P.L.'s going with me." Danni said quickly. "I just need to clear my head some."

"We'll be fine." P.L. wiped his mouth with his napkin and stood, leaving half of his breakfast uneaten.

"Alright but don't go far and come right back." Audrina looked at Charlie to make sure he agreed.

"We'll be just fine. Promise." Danni smiled at him before seizing P.L.'s arm and heading for the door. "Be right back!" she called over her shoulder.

As soon as they reached the sidewalk, he looked down at her.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"They already checked Randal's room looking for the books." she said, moving as quickly as she could down the sidewalk.

"Yeah?" He matched his speed with hers.

She looked at him. "They didn't check mine."

P.L. stopped and blinked at his friend.

"Keep moving. We don't have long." she hissed.

"What would they have found if they had checked yours?" he asked, hurrying to catch up.

"His mother's grimoire."

"Oh my God." P.L. looked at Danni. She was staring straight ahead, moving faster than she usually moved. "Have you looked at it? And how did you get it?"

"Looked at it, hell. I've read the damned thing." She twisted her lips in a mockery of a smile. "Sleep is overrated. I'll sleep when I'm dead."

"Keep reading dark grimoires and that won't be far off." P.L. muttered.

"It's pretty twisted but not as bad as some of the stuff I learned before." Danni shrugged. "She made the spells herself, I think. And she seemed to like fairytales."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll let you read it but there are some in there that are just crazy. Like there's this one that was marked. I think she based it off of Sleeping Beauty and there were all these notes on the pages and drawings." She shuddered. "Anyway. I got it to copy with a charm but the last ten pages are resistant to the spell."

"So what are we doing?" P.L. was not surprised that she was planning on keeping a copy of the book.

"There's a Kinko's near the colleges."

"We're copying a magical grimoire with dark and twisted spells inside at a Kinko's?"

"Pretty much."

P.L. snorted and then started to laugh. Danni grinned back at him.

"Never say I don't make life interesting."

"You didn't say how you got this." P.L. reminded her.

Danni shook her head. "I don't know when he did it but it was lying on my bed, wrapped in brown paper. No note or anything. I found it last night when I went in there. I shoved it under my pillow before anyone came in."

"It could have been dangerous." P.L. said carefully.

"Yeah. I get that." Danni sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I was hoping it was more of an explanation on everything. This is all so... so weird. I guess I can understand why he's insane if his own mother practiced those on him."

It didn't take long to copy the last few pages and buy a binder. On the way home, Danni casually glanced at P.L.

"So."

"So." he replied.

"Have you told Fred how you feel yet?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Gonna?"

"Thinking about it."

Danni rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless."

"I'm cautious. Big difference." P.L. sniffed.

"Grow a set." Danni rolled her eyes. "And stop being such a pussy."

"I am not a pussy!" P.L. scowled at her.

Danni snorted.

"So how's it going with Charlie?" P.L. asked after a few minutes.

Danni shrugged. "Well enough, I think. He's pretty cool. I like him so I think that's a good sign. I mean, it would suck if we didn't like each other and were stuck together."

"He seems to really care about you." P.L. offered.

Danni smiled a little. "Yeah. It's just weird, ya know?"

"Yeah. It is."

"Hey, you know if you need to talk, I'm here." P.L. paused as they reached the front gate. "It's a lot and I know you're processing it all still but I'm here."

Danni smiled. "Thanks, P.L. And I'm here if you want to talk about that relationship thing, too. I won't tease you."

He hugged her. "Thanks."

"What are friends for?" she hugged him back.

An hour later, Danni walked down to where the adults sat at the table, talking in low voices.

"He must have taken his books with him." Audrina said, chewing her lip. "I just wish we knew what he was reading! I know he had his mother's grimoire but I doubt he would just leave that sitting around!"

"It must be hidden." Hermione told her. "That was what he read the most?"

"Almost constantly." Nadine said. "So whatever it is that is going through his head right now is probably in that book."

"And it's probably with him right now." Ron groaned. "Wherever he is."

"Nah." Danni strolled in, the book in her arms. "He left it in my room." She put the book on the table in front of them. "And seriously, if you want to know about his hiding places and stuff, you need to be talking to me and not whispering when you think we aren't listening. Because honestly, we are listening." She sat down and waited for a reaction.

"Have you read this?" Hermione asked, pulling the book toward herself.

"Yeah." Danni shrugged. "Pretty twisted in some places. She really liked fairytales. Old school ones, not Disney ones. Like Cinderella's stepsisters mutilating themselves and pigeons pecking out their eyes or Rapunzel's prince throwing himself off the tower and both of them ending up wandering in a desert. What worries me is that she tested these on her kids and elves."

"Do you know where he could have hidden anything else?" Bill asked her.

"He has a hidden spot in his closet." Danni said calmly. "Not magically hidden. It's a loose floorboard."

"Danni, do you have any idea where he could be right now?" Harry asked her.

She bit her lip and looked down.

"Danni, you can't protect him." Hermione told her gently.

Danni nodded. "Before we came to the States, we lived in Wales." She looked up. "I don't remember a lot, I was little. I remember watching the sunset over the water with him. And I remember going to a shop with a lot of shiny, noisy things in it with some really, really tall man with red hair. I mean, I was like three so he may have just been average height." She laughed a little and then bit her lips again. "It was dark there. And I remember we have house elves. But they never spoke. Ever. And... and this sounds so crazy but I remember walking through a tunnel and it smelled salty and wet and-" She laughed self-consciously. "There was a dragon. I swear to you, I remember it. There was a dragon. And I remember standing there just staring at it and it was staring at me and then Da- I mean, Rodolphus grabbed me and it roared so loud. I remember covering my ears. And- and that's all I remember. And it was very green outside. When one of the house elves would take me outside to play, it was always green." She sighed and let her hands fall to her lap. "I probably don't remember right. But I know we were in Wales. He even told me we lived in Wales."

She slowly stood. "I left the bookmark in the book where he had it." She turned and headed out of the room. "It's a weird spell. Most twisted one in there, I think. It involves all kinds of craziness. She was a pretty disturbed woman. Oh. And I think he tried to translate her writing and all that but his notes are wrong if she's going off the original story. He got it confused with the Disney version. In the original, the age was fifteen, not sixteen. But maybe there's something I missed. I don't know. But if I'm right, whatever it is that happens when that's cast will happen in fifteen years, not sixteen like his notes say.

"And once we figure out where the house is, we should probably check out all the local wildlife. There are some twisted transfiguration spells in there.

"I'm going to take a nap." She limped away, exhaustion evident in her steps.

Silence reigned for a moment after she left.

"I think someone needs to go speak with Rabastan Lestrange again." Ron said, standing. "I'm going to go make some calls about that."

"And someone should go speak to the Malfoy's and see if they know anything about Lestrange properties in Wales." Harry stood.

"I'm..." Hermione trailed off, reading the section that had been marked. "I'm going to read a book." she trailed off faintly. "Oh my..."

Bill and Charlie glanced at each other. No words were needed.

They headed upstairs to tear up some floorboards.

* * *

a.n:

Just in case anyone doesn't know, _Laissez les bons temps rouler _is a theme of New Orleans and means "Let the good times roll".__


	11. Chapter 11

_****I won't bore anyone with details but I am so sorry for the delay. Real Life has been bad lately. Death in the family and a whole lot of other stuff... it has been unpleasant to say the least. So I am so sorry! Updates may be delayed but I promise promise promise I will not just leave for good until this story is completely posted. Please forgive me for any glaring spelling errors, grammar problems and so on and so forth. And as always, I own nothing, I gain nothing.****_

_**May 8th, 2013 Dublin, Ireland**_

Jack Larkin watched his wife getting ready without speaking. He lounged on the bed, watching, as she brushed out her long hair, muttering under her breath as it resisted her efforts to force it into a neat French Twist. Over and over, a black curl escaped to tumble over her shoulder. He smiled a little as she tossed down her hairbrush and muttered loud enough for him to hear, "Fine. Be that way. See if I care." before picking up her lucky earrings.

"I can go with you." he reminded her as she crawled across the floor, peeking under the bed, her dresser and everywhere in-between for her left shoe.

"I can handle it." she replied, her voice muffled as she rooted around under the bed.

"I know you can handle it." He leaned so that he could pluck the shoe in question out of a potted plant. He leaned back and tapped her on her back. She emerged and took the shoe, smiling her thanks. "I just also know that you don't have to alone."

Valentine sat down on the edge of the bed. He moved behind her and began rubbing her shoulders.

"I have to go alone, Jack. You know as well as I that you can't abide any of this lot." she sighed. "And you always make sure that they know you can't."

"I like the youngest one." he argued weakly. He really couldn't abide this lot. He didn't care what excuses they spouted off, he remembered what they had done and would never, ever forgive them for it.

Valentine, for all her fire and spirit, had the softest heart of anyone he knew. She may snarl and spit once in awhile but she was usually soothing and fixing a few moments later. Sometimes even as she snarled and spit. She hated to see people in pain. She would see someone in pain and want to fix it.

This had worked for him before, he admitted. There had been moments when they were first starting out that he had almost lost her. One time in particular stood out as the worst. He hadn't trusted that she really did have a business meeting for her family's shipping company. He had not been able to believe that all men didn't want his Val like he did and had followed her.

It may have had something to do with her eldest sister commenting that Valentine had been romantically involved with one of the men when she was younger.

He never did like Valentine's older sisters.

Looking back, he could chuckle at his jealousy but at the time, it had been burning hot as he watched his young wife laughing and chatting so easily with her very handsome, suave business contacts. They were so refined, handsome and well-bred. He was scruffy and his family was anything but well-bred. In fact, he was well-aware that his family had a lot of criminal contacts and they were actually other people's criminal contacts.

Valentine's family, while rebellious and not exactly normal, were well-respected.

In short, she was out of his league and more in these men's league.

He had been waiting for her to open her eyes and realize it, and then promptly leave him, but she hadn't. He saw her with these men and knew that she would end up with, if not one of them, someone like them. So he had done the only thing he could think of.

Armed with enough rum to drown a much lesser man, he had stormed in, yelled insults, punched one of the men, grabbed his wife, bellowed that she was his and, tossing her over his shoulder, stormed out again.

He had been stupid and he knew it. And so did Valentine.

She had waited for him to sober up. She had lay on their bed, watching him as he stormed from place to place, cursing the men, accusing her of wanting them more than him and any number of stupid things, in some cases he had just been rambling incoherently. But she had just laid there, her arms crossed, waiting. And when he finally passed out, she had covered him with a blanket before contacting her business contacts and making apologies.

He had woke up and hunted her down at the office where she was literally up to her chin in paperwork. Most of it pertaining to the night before. He had decided to brazen it out, strolled in and asked what was new.

She had exploded on him. She had ripped him apart, waited for him to reassemble his parts and then did it again. She had screamed, he had screamed. She had hexed him, he had dodged. She had stormed away, he had felt his heart breaking. Not that he showed it, of course. He had too much pride for that.

And then he had gone home and found she wasn't there.

She had left.

He had sat in the middle of their dark living room for two days before he finally crawled to her.

And she forgave him. She listened to him and she forgave him.

Jack swore in that moment that he would never, ever make her leave again.

He had tried to turn himself into what he thought she deserved but she had laughed and reminded him that they had met in a bar fight in the seediest bar in Dublin.

Yes. She had a soft heart. And he was worried every time she got near the vipers that were Pureblood Society.

He didn't trust them at all.

Not with his Val.

"I can't put this off. They have to know and we have to get to the points so we can head to The States to make sure that this move goes correctly and be back here in time to take care of... of everything." She fluttered one hand and sighed. "I just don't want to do this."

Jack ran his fingers through her hair and then began to gently twist it into the knot she had been attempting. After years of being surrounded by daughters and a wife with wild hair, Jack was more than confident in his ability to control a woman's hair.

Now any other part of a woman, not so much.

For fifteen years, Valentine had held onto the slender thread of hope that by some miracle at least one of her Blood Sisters was still alive.

The message that they had received yesterday destroyed that thread.

Even though they had expected it, seeing it written in black and white had hurt more than Jack expected. He had sat and held his wife while she stared into space, her breathing occasionally hitching and her fists clenching convulsively.

He finished fixing her hair and watched as she swiped on some lipstick. He kissed her and hugged her before she entered the floo. And when she disappeared in a swirl of green flame, Jack Larkin wished he had insisted on going.

***

Valentine stepped from the floo and dusted herself off.

She wished she had accepted Jack's offer to go with her.

"Mrs. Larkin." Valentine inclined her head in greeting but groaned inwardly. The whole family was here. She would have rather dealt with the man standing in front of her and let him pass the word through the family. She didn't like this man. Giving him the news wouldn't be as painful to her as looking the others in the eye and saying what she had to say.

But it looked like after they replied back about her meeting with them, the entire family had appeared.

Even the two daughter's husbands and their parents.

Good God. What was the point of inviting all of these people to something like this?!

And besides that, while she may dislike most of the family, she utterly loathed some of the in-laws.

"Can I offer you some refreshment?" Ah, the rules of civility. Here they were, white faced and nervous but still they acted polite.

"Thank-you, no." Valentine moved to the seat she was offered and, taking a deep breath, sat. She looked at the carefully dressed, carefully polished, carefully bred beings in front of her. They could have been some of those delicate, pretty figurines that her eldest sister was so bloody fond of.

Julie's family.

She wasn't sure if she pitied them or hated them.

Maybe both.

"You said you had information for us?" Julie's mother had her daughter's eyes. Valentine couldn't look at her face for long without feeling a stab of pain.

Valentine nodded. "Aye. I do. You've been reading the papers about finding the girl that was kidnapped when she was a baby? Charlie Weasley's girl?"

"Yes." The elder daughter said, frowning in confusion.

"What does another Weasley in the world matter? Aren't there already dozens of new ones each year?" one of the in-laws inquired.

Valentine took another deep breath to keep from snarling at the offensive bastard. _Just get through this, girl. Get through this and go home. Don't give in. _she told herself. "Julie disappeared the night Fiona was taken. We assumed that the body that was found in Mia Kelley's flat was Mia.

"We were mistaken."

Julie's mother reached blindly for her husband.

"When Fiona, or Danni as she is called, was contacted by the man that kidnapped her, he answered a few questions for us. Like exactly what happened that night."

"What-what happened?" the youngest daughter asked. Her husband had his hands on her shoulders.

"He stalked Mia until that night. He lost his mind at some point and believed that Mia was actually his late wife. He came into her apartment and managed to get his hands on the baby. Mia tried to get Fiona away from him but couldn't. Julie was supposed to meet us all there that night." Valentine's eyes stung for a moment. "She'd never been early in her life before that night. She startled him. I'm sorry. Julie was murdered that night."

Julie's mother seemed to collapse in on herself. The two daughters began to cry while their husbands hugged them.

"When we learned that Julie had been there and that she had died, we realized that we had only found the one body and assumed it was Mia. We had tests done on the woman in Mia's grave. The tests came back and that body is not Mia's. It's Julie's." Valentine finished. She wanted to say that she was sorry but couldn't. Not to them.

"This is your fault!" At first Valentine thought Julie's mother was screaming at her but then realized that she was screaming at her husband. "You and your pride! Couldn't take the fact that our daughter was a Squib! I didn't care! I still don't care! She was my daughter! You sent her away and she died! You did this! Are you happy now?!" The other two older women hurried to comfort the distraught woman. Her husband's hand moved out hesitantly toward her and then fell to his side.

"I wanted her to be safe." he said helplessly, looking at Valentine like he wanted her to absolve him of this guilt. "Voldemort would have killed her." He looked away first. Valentine stared at his lowered head a moment longer and then looked at the rest of the room.

She had to get out of here. She was going to say something. Part of her ached for them all but part of her looked at their finery and their luxury and hated them. Julie had worked in a coffee shop and a circus. She had worked when she was exhausted and hungry. She had fought for every inch life gave her and these bastards sat here in robes that no doubt would have cost Julie a year's salary.

And all Julie wanted was for them to still love her.

"Was-was it fast?" the youngest daughter asked brokenly.

"Are you asking if he tortured her?" She nodded. "No. She was dead before the fire, too."

"How?" the elder daughter choked out. "You haven't said it wasn't quick so how did he do it? How did he kill Melpomene?"

Valentine swore she could hear Julie shrieking at the use of her first name.

"She was thrown across a room and went headfirst into a wall." Valentine said quickly. "Or so we were told."

"She was probably unconscious." one of the husbands said carefully. "She probably didn't know what was happening."

Valentine just wanted to leave. The women were crying. The men looked like they had been sucker punched. Everyone should have known that this was coming but Valentine imagined that they had held onto the same hope that she had.

"When is the funeral?" one of the husbands' asked.

"Next Tuesday." Valentine said, clearing her throat. "We have to get everything arranged. We'll have it in Dublin. Julie had a favorite cathedral, you see. We'll have it there." She stood. "If you have any questions, please contact me. My husband and I have business in the States for the next couple of days but you can still reach us. Don't hesitate to."

She knew that they wouldn't.

"Will... will you use her- real name or will you use the name she went by?" Her mother asked.

Valentine hesitated. "Julie had a will. It actually covered that." she said carefully. "She requested that the following be inscribed on her stone. 'Born Melpomene Julietta. Died Julie Green' and the dates. She requested that her family name be unmentioned. She didn't wish to cause you shame even in death." Valentine lifted her chin and controlled the urge to add, "Or perhaps she wanted to avoid your causing her shame in death." She felt that would be a bit too much. She could see that several people in the room knew what she was thinking anyway.

"I'd like to remind you that Julie's favorite flowers were orchids. She hated carnations so please don't be bringing those. We'll be interring her cat with her. He died a few years back and I had him put in a special kitty coffin in the family crypt. Oh, incidentally, we'll be putting her in our family's crypt. I trust you don't have any objections." She didn't wait for them to speak. "Do you remember her cat? Stanley?" Her father nodded stiffly. Valentine smiled sadly. She wanted to be mature. She wanted to be kind. She wanted...

She wanted to make sure he hurt as much as his daughter had at his hand. Even if just for a moment. She wanted to be petty and vengeful and hurtful and mean. She wanted to grab the knife and twist.

"I remember this one raid." She said thoughtfully. They were just all friends here. Sharing stories, that was all. Or at least, that was what her tone said. "Our secret fell and they were everywhere. We were grossly outnumbered, you see. We had muggles, squibs, children, babies, oh, all sorts that couldn't defend themselves against what was coming at us." She saw one of the in-laws twitch. Good. She knew full and damned well that son of a bitch had worn a mask a time or two. "We were getting people out. Or trying to. People were dying all around us and we were just trying to get the children away. You know that's mainly what we were smuggling, yeah? Children.

"I had two of my children as well as one of the muggleborns. Mia had baby Fiona and Julie. Julie yanked away from Mia and ran back into that inferno. Past two Death Eaters, dodging hexes as she went." Valentine caught her father's eye and held it. He swallowed hard but didn't look away. "Mia handed off the baby to my husband and ran after her into that inferno.

"They showed up at the new safe house and Julie just sits down and starts cuddling this bundle in her arms. She had gone back in for her cat. Said he was all she had and that her Daddy gave him to her the last birthday that he loved her." Her father looked like Valentine had just punched him. She felt guilty for a second but pushed that down. She glanced at the sisters. "She kept a picture of the three of you together in her pocket. You must have been at most 10 in that picture. She kept it with her. She showed it to Mia and me but she usually kept you to herself."

"I would have found her after I turned seventeen." the youngest choked. "I loved her."

Valentine nodded. She believed her. "Julie loved you as well."

She hesitated at the floo and turned. "I should warn you. Julie had many friends and saved many lives. There will be muggles there. And there will be people that fought alongside Julie." She paused. "She was a hero, you know." With that, she entered the floo and disappeared.

Jack was waiting for her when she came through. They looked at each other for a moment before he opened his arms and she went to him, accepting the comfort he willingly offered.

***

**May 8th, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana**

She had lived in the lap of luxury. Far more luxury than he could afford, that was for damned sure.

Charlie hadn't noticed really last night. He had been exhausted after dinner and meeting Tante Marie so he had just fallen into bed.

But this morning, he noticed.

God, he noticed.

Everything in this house cost a lot of money. When he stumbled into the guest bathroom for a shower, he had been startled to realize exactly how opulent it was. Marble on the walls and floor, a separate shower stall away from the garden tub, even the towels had been huge and fluffy and obviously expensive.

There was art on the walls. There were lush carpets on the floors. They had flowers but even the flowers were expensive looking. When he had been growing up, there had been wildflowers, if that. Here, there were calla lilies, gardenias, roses, some kind of flower that seemed to grow on a stalk and some he couldn't place. And they were in delicate vases on delicate side tables.

Well, except for the large bouquet in the middle of the huge dining room table in what Danni had off-handedly referred to as "The Formal Dining Room".

When he went looking for his daughter, he found her carefully packing in a room with a curtained bed fit for royalty, deep violet walls, with a soft rug over the mahogany floors and filled with obviously expensive things such as figurines, paintings and designer clothing.

She had grown up in luxury.

And there was no way he could match it.

After her surprising revelation that she had been in Wales as a child and that she had the book that they had been curious about, Danni had retreated to her room. Bill and Charlie had searched Rodolphus' bedroom and found the compartment Danni had mentioned. Inside they had discovered notes on spells, a couple more books and some odds and ends. There had been no mention of homes anywhere and they were back where they had started.

Charlie retreated to the family room to think and calm down some. It was the wrong room for this. The room was filled with framed pictures of his daughter's life.

His daughter's life without him.

She was everywhere. A laughing toddler playing with her toys. A studious child with a satin bow in her hair mouthing the words of her book of fairytales. A sleeping child curled around a stuffed dragon, her lips parted in sleep. A beaming adolescent holding a broom in one hand and a Snitch in the other. A pretty little girl in a tutu spinning happily. A sweet round cheeked baby pushing herself up and laughing.

Rage burned in him at the knowledge that she had spent fifteen years without him.

The one thing that he could gain solace from was that she had been cared for.

"Charlie? You got a minute?" He shook himself from his thoughts and turned. Danni was leaning against the doorframe, shifting nervously. He smiled.

"Always." he assured her. She smiled and took a step into the room.

"I was thinking maybe you and I could go get dinner tonight. Just us." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "If you want to, I mean."

"Yes, that sounds wonderful." He agreed quickly. "Do you have a favorite restaurant?"

She nodded. "Yes. I mean, my favorite for sitting and, you know, talking. I think we probably need to do that a lot, yeah?"

"Yeah." he nodded.

"Alright then." she smiled quickly. She looked nervous still. He was, too. "So, maybe around 6 or so? I'll get us a reservation. It's a sort of casual kinda place. Just dress pants and a decent shirt and you're set. I'll see you around 5 or so." She turned to go.

"Danni, wait." She paused and turned.

"Yeah?" she asked, her eyebrows lifting quizzically.

"I've been wondering something since England." he admitted. "P.L. has a tattoo on his neck. Do you have any tattoos?"

"Yes." She smiled. "Do you? And if so, is it in a place I can see?"

He pushed his shirt sleeve up to display the dragon wrapped around his upper arm. "I have one on my back, too."

She moved closer and peered at his tattoo. "Nice lines. Very clean. It's a Hungarian Horntail, right?"

"Very good." He smiled approvingly.

She reached down and rolled up the left leg of her yoga pants to show a dragon on her upper leg. "Welch Green." she grinned.

"How did you get someone to tattoo you before you came of age?" he asked curiously.

"Friend of mine is a tattoo artist." she replied.

"It looks good." he said honestly. "Your mom had one on her lower back. Black dragon with lilies on either side."

"I have one on my shoulder blade, too." she admitted. "Lilies and ivy vine. And if you look really close, I have the Roman Numeral Six. We all got those hidden in our tattoos." She turned her back and moved her shirt so he could see the top of a very delicate looking tattoo. To his amusement, at one point in the center, the vines and leaves formed a "VI".

"You know, that fits you." Charlie said thoughtfully. "I like it."

She smiled happily. Charlie realized with a bit of a start that she actually seemed to want his approval.

"Thanks." She grinned impishly. "Just so you know, I don't have any hidden piercings. Every piercing I have is in a place that I'm not embarrassed to show."

"I should hope not." he said honestly. "Because those just seem painful to me. And wouldn't they get caught on clothing?"

"Everyone I know who has one says it's fine but that was my concern, too." she admitted. "Oh well. Guess I'm not hardcore after all." She shrugged to show she didn't care. "So anyway, I'll see you in a bit, okay?" Before he could reply, she looked around the room and shook her head. "I don't know if I'll really miss this house but I'm gonna miss the city. Think we can come back to visit sometime?"

"Don't see why not." Charlie agreed. "You don't like this house?"

She shrugged. "There are too many ghosts here. My life's been a lie and this is the epicenter. I can toss out some more angst filled comments but it all boils down to I'm really angry and I can center a lot of my anger on this house because I can't get my hands on anything else to be angry at. So it looks like unless I can get my hands on- on Rodolphus, then I'll be angry at this house."

"You're not getting anywhere near him." Charlie advised her.

"Gotcha." She turned to go. "By the way, we need to contact the prosecutor for the whole Valentine's Day Massacre thing before we go. I think that they're trying to use some of the spells I used to get some of the people off. Maybe make me out to be a Dark Witch. I don't know."

"What spells did you use?" Charlie asked.

She glanced over her shoulder. "Things I had no business knowing." The look in her eyes was flat and emotionless.

Charlie watched her walk away and then found Audrina to ask about the trial. She sighed and sat down, her features morphing to a non-descript brunette with brown eyes.

"She fought them and she won. But some of them didn't walk away. Attorneys get desperate. It's nasty, so were some of the spells, but it all comes down to the fact that she was defending herself and her friends and was, actually a hero. She won't be in any trouble but they may use what she used to get leniency for the ones that attacked the kids. I don't know if it will work but it could. Sometimes I don't understand the law so I suppose we'll have to trust the prosecuting attorney."

"How 'nasty' were the spells she used?" Charlie asked hesitantly.

Audrina was quiet a moment. "She didn't use The Big Three, if that's what you're asking." He exhaled at the news that she hadn't used an Unforgivable. "Charlie, are you asking if Danni has killed someone?" He nodded. She studied her hands. "One of them died, yes. At the hospital. There were others that died and it is feasible that Danni was the one that cast the spells that ended them. I would like to believe it was someone else other that Danni or one of the kids but I honestly don't know."

"Does she know?" Charlie asked.

Audrina nodded. "No. She doesn't. It was- it was just one more thing. I figured that Randal would tell her before she had to deal with the trial but, well..." She let one hand flutter. "I saw her curse the man. He was about to cast at one of the others and she got him first. If I hadn't seen her hit him, I wouldn't have known it was her. And we all hit the one that caused her all the damage so who actually knows who is to blame for that death?" She was a bit pale. "She knows she caused some of them a lot of damage but those besides the one all recovered. I don't believe she was casting with intent to kill. Danni doesn't have the soul of a killer."

Charlie thought for a moment. "I don't want her to have to deal with a trial at all but I certainly don't want her to find out like that."

"Charlie, Danni needs some form of therapy." Audrina told him with great certainty. "To deal with all of this. Valentine's Day, Ran-Rodolphus, you, her mother, everything. She is going to need more help than any of us can give her."

Charlie sat down in the chair opposite her. "I don't know where to go to find someone for her."

Audrina patted his hand. "We'll find someone for our girl. Don't you worry."

Hours later, Charlie sat across from his daughter in a restaurant in the French Quarter, listening to her opinions on the menu. Most of it was Creole and Cajun dishes and he readily admitted that he didn't know many of those.

After they had ordered, Charlie simply trusting Danni about what to get, a woman in a crisp white chef's uniform walked to the table.

"Your money is no good here." she said without preamble. Both looked up at her, startled. She hesitated. "I'm from England." She leaned closer so that no one besides the two of them could hear her. "I'm Muggleborn. I got out via Ireland. A woman named Mia Kelley held my hand and hugged me all night while I cried for my family." She straightened. "Your mother saved my life. My husband and I own this restaurant. When you eat here, you are an honored guest... a friend." She smiled and leaned close again. "And you, Miss Fiona Kelley spit up all over my shirt an hour before I left Europe forever."

"I-I'm sorry?" Danni responded faintly.

The woman smiled again. "I'm Jenna Fontaine and I owe your mother and her friends my life." She paused. "New Orleans was a place many of us ended up. They had connections here so many of us were sent here. You may be surprised at how many people try to speak with you or remember you as a small baby. I always thought that you looked familiar. Perhaps if I had known what your eyes looked like, I would have guessed." She patted Danni's shoulder. "Have a nice meal."

"Are you alright?" Charlie asked after Jenna was gone.

Danni shrugged. "That's relative. I wonder if perhaps I would have been found years ago if I hadn't started wearing charms as a child. Maybe that's why he encouraged it."

"I think," Charlie said carefully. "That he is a very sick man. I think that perhaps part of him acknowledged that he had no right to you but that part was silenced more often than not. But from what I have seen and heard, I think he does love you."

Danni watched a drop of water make its way down her glass to soak into the tablecloth before answering.

"Thank-you." she said softly. "I know you hate him. I know you have reason to hate him but thank-you for being kind."

"I'm also being honest." Charlie promised.

Danni nodded slowly and then smiled. "Let's not think about it. Let's have a nice dinner and get to know one another." She smiled mischievously. "So we know about each other's tattoos. You can see what piercings I have. You can see that I dye parts of my hair purple. What other things do we need to cover to say we've covered all the bases?"

"Hmmm." Charlie rested his chin on his fist. "What's your favorite color?"

"Purple. Yours?" She relaxed before his eyes.

"Green." he smiled and began asking her questions and answering hers in return.

By the time the meal was done, he knew that her favorite color was purple, she had taken piano and ballet as a child, didn't like salmon, her favorite book was _**Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM**_, hated when her feet were dirty and a multitude of other things.

They walked through the Quarter instead of simply getting a cab to go home. Charlie had worried about her leg but she had waved the concern away.

"I haven't done physical therapy in awhile and, honestly, this is a lot less than I would be doing there." she said. "I need to keep working out with it if it's ever gonna recover right." He noticed that she was walking better and had kept her cane shrunk and hidden in her purse. "I want to dance again." she admitted after a moment. "I miss that. I always enjoyed it and it's hard to now. But I will again."

"If it starts to bother you, let me know." Charlie said, understanding what she meant. She nodded her agreement.

They were walking near a clothing shop when a girl about Danni's age darted out.

"Danni!" she called, running toward them. Danni stopped and smiled.

"Hey, Christine." The girl stopped, panting slightly.

"I thought that was you!" she said cheerfully. "Oh, hello!" she beamed at Charlie and then looked at Danni. She leaned close. "What happened to Ethan?" she whispered.

Danni laughed. "God, Chris! This isn't my new boyfriend! This is my father!"

"Wh- oh! Sorry!" Christine flushed. "You just- you don't look old enough is all." She stopped and then laughed. "Wow. I feel dumb. I can see it now that I look at you. You guys have similar features. Sorry."

"This is my friend, Christine Marston. Christine, this is my father, Charlie Weasley." Danni said, shaking her head and smiling.

Charlie offered his hand. She had introduced him as her father. He was thrilled. "It's very nice to meet you." he smiled. "And thank-you for saying I don't look old."

"You don't at all and it's super nice to meet you, too." Christine shook his hand and then looked at Danni. "Listen, we want to give you guys a Going Away Party."

"Oh, Chris, I don't know..." Danni bit her lip.

"Look, I have to get back inside or my boss will kill me." Christine hugged Danni quickly and then smiled at Charlie. "I'll call you later! Kisses!" She turned and darted away.

Danni looked at Charlie. "You're not going to be cool with me going to a party, are you?"

Charlie hesitated. This was one of those moments he wasn't sure about. On one hand, she was a teenager who was moving to another country and leaving her friends behind. On the other, he didn't know who these people were, she had almost gotten killed in this city and there was a Death Eater who believed she belonged to him on the loose and swearing to get her back.

"Thought so." He supposed that his thoughts had been written all over his face. She didn't look upset though. She seemed as though she was bemused.

"Maybe we can figure out something if you really want to go." he said carefully.

She nodded. "Okay. I'm really not too upset. I mean, I guess it would be okay but I'm not... I mean, I almost got killed the last time I saw some of these people! And some of them are going to want to talk about it and all that." They began walking again.

"If you feel like I'm being too overbearing, let me know." Charlie told her. "This is an adjustment for us both."

Danni nodded slowly. "I will. I don't know... it's not so bad. I'm pretty used to doing as I please because the Aunts and Uncles don't catch what I'm up to and he didn't notice. It's kinda cool to have someone notice and react. Feels sort of nice."

She stopped and bit her lip. "I wasn't abused or anything. Don't think that. It's just in the last couple of years..." She bit her lip. "He's been kinda preoccupied. He hasn't noticed anything I've done."

"It's okay." Charlie assured her. "I know."

Danni looked down at her feet. "I'm scared to go to the trials for this... thing. I know what I did. And I know some people that were there know what I did but I don't- I don't want everyone to know." She hunched her shoulders. "I don't want you to know." she whispered.

"I already know." His daughter looked up at him in surprise. "I know that you survived and that's all that matters to me." Her lips parted but no sound came out. "You survived and you're here. Whatever else... you defended yourself and you defended your loved ones and I don't care about the rest. I'm not going anywhere. Not now not ever. You're my daughter. I'm in your life forever and you're in mine. You're the most important thing in my life and you always will be. I don't care if you were running around casting Unforgivables. You are my daughter and I will always stand by you."

It took a moment for Danni to process this all. Charlie waited, watching the emotions cloud her eyes before she finally spoke. "I've never cast an Unforgivable. I know the concepts. I know the incantations. I know the wand movements. I can't. I couldn't. No matter... no matter how often he had me try, I couldn't. I didn't want to and I- I didn't care if he wasn't proud of me, I couldn't do it."

"He tried to get you to cast Unforgivables?" Charlie felt cold. "On what?"

"He would bring home animals for me to practice on. I would cry. In the bathroom with the shower running so no one would hear." Her shoulders hunched. "That's why I have so many strays. I could never do it. Not even when he would bring insects. I just- I couldn't. Maybe if I could have, some people would still be alive."

"You cannot blame yourself for any of that." Charlie insisted. "And you cannot be angry with yourself for not being able to cast those spells."

"But I could have." Danni confessed. "When- when I saw them hurting Fred and P.L. I could have. And I would have except..."

"Except what?" Charlie asked quietly.

"I knew a nastier one." she whispered. "One that- that he taught me. And I used that instead."

They stood in the shadow of an old building, silence prevailing. Then Charlie lifted her chin.

"If it saved them and it saved you, I'm glad that you knew it." he told her. "And it doesn't matter. I hope that you are never in a position where you have to use a spell like that ever again. And all we can do now is move forward." He smiled. "We have fifteen years to make up for and the rest of our lives to live. And some potential houses to decide between for where we're going to live." She smiled up at him, hope in her eyes.

"Can we have a porch?" she asked. "With a swing?" When she asked that, she sounded like a little girl.

"If we can't find a place that already has that then we'll have it built." he promised. "No more bad thoughts tonight, yeah?"

She nodded and gave him a small, tremulous but real smile.

As they walked toward a place to catch a cab, Danni slipped her arm through Charlie's. "So, not to sound materialistic, how about we discuss fifteen years worth of birthday and Christmas Presents?"

"Sure. And then we can discuss Father's Day presents while we're discussing my last fifteen birthdays and Christmases."

"Oh, you're a tricky one."

"You had to get it from somewhere."

* * *

_**May 2013 The Cottage, Wales**_

Randal, who was Rodolphus but now thought of himself as Randal, stormed from room to room in his mother's home, trying to think. He just had to figure out how to fix this.

He had to get his family back.

He had to do it fast before they were harmed.

Papers were scattered around the floor of the study, each one crumpled in anger.

One screamed the words "Who is Danni Montague?" And showed pictures of Randal fighting with that Redheaded Bastard as Danielle tried to separate them. And beside that picture was one of his baby being torn from him by said Redheaded Bastard. There were pictures of his girl with her friends and in her Quidditch uniform and a few of her dressed provocatively that made him growl.

In another newspaper, the words "Missing Infant Found 15 Years Later!". That one showed a woman and a baby standing in front of a tree, the woman smiling and "helping" the baby wave. Next to that picture was his Danielle sitting with her chin propped on her fist, laughing at something outside of the picture.

They all went on and on like this. Headlines claiming Danielle had been kidnapped as an infant and that her mother had been murdered and that she was really one of those redheaded bastards.

Which was ridiculous on many levels... especially since she didn't have red hair.

And now she was heading back to America again. He wanted his baby back and not with those bastards! He wanted his family back!

What if they let something happen to her?

He forced himself to calm down. He had to trust that what he had done would protect her and help her. He just had to stay calm. She would be safe.

But somewhere, his baby girl was with those bastards. It was all their fault. If the bitch had not went after his wife, the three of them would be together now. Everything would be right if not for that bitch.

Paintings began to rattle on the wall and in the hallway, a vase shattered.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and counted to ten.

He had to keep his focus. He had to stay calm.

He swept back to his study and lifted a newspaper. A smile grew on his face. He loved the paparazzi. Always poking their noses into everything and making sure that everyone knew everything about the famous.

He folded the newspaper and placed it where he would be able to see it whenever he needed to.

She would be back with him soon. And when she was, together they would reunite their entire family.

All of them would be together soon.

* * *

_**May 8th, 2013 New Orleans, Louisiana**_

"Danni? You awake?" Fred didn't wait for an answer but slipped into Danni's room as she spoke.

"Would it matter if I wasn't?" Danni asked, smiling up from the red notebook she was reading.

"Not in the slightest." Fred admitted. "What are you reading?"

"Stuff." Danni hedged.

"Does it have to do with whatever it was that you and Pel did this morning?" Fred sat down on the bed and pulled her legs under herself. "And the book of spells you surrendered to the parental units and company?"

"Yeah." Danni sat up straight.

"I knew it." Fred smiled triumphantly. "I knew that there was no way in hell you would just give up a spell book without keeping a copy."

"Shut up. I'm not that predictable." Danni swatted at her friend.

"You totally are." Fred grinned. "But only to me and the other four."

"I wish I knew what he was up to with this crap." Danni sighed, waving her hand over the notebook.

"No clue at all?" Fred asked, frowning.

"I have a suspicion but it would be too insane." Danni made a face. "Granted, at this point I think anything goes but it would be insane even for him." She opened the notebook and pointed to the spell in question. Fred whistled low.

"That's... that's messed up." she said, reading. "It looks like it would be easier to cast the first part than the last. But it calls for a sacrifice."

"Yeah. And if you read further, you need one hell of a sacrifice. We're talking transferring life energies and all that bullshit. This is... not very nice." Danni made a face. "And then, if you read the last part, you have to trigger it to finish it completely. It will start wearing off on its own but if it isn't triggered, everyone involved dies."

"What do you mean everyone involved?" Fred kept reading.

"I mean the one who cast it in the first place, who it was cast on and... well, anyone else that was involved. Say he cast it with more than one person assisting, like holding the book maybe. Everyone would die if it doesn't get to finish up." Danni winced, just thinking about it. "I found the part that will end it but it's pretty tricky. I mean, the wand work alone is next to impossible. I am pretty sure that wrists are not supposed to move in some of these ways. And you also have to give another blood sacrifice."

"Like the one before?" Fred looked up, horrified.

"No. Not that drastic. But it has to be the blood of the one casting. So you would be doing this weakened because it's not like you can stop to take a potion or anything." Danni and Fred shared a grimace. "I hope I'm wrong and he didn't try this. I hope he tried the 'Princess and the Pea' one."

"What's that?" Fred asked.

"Overly sensitive skin and muscles." Danni shrugged. "And there's a really easy counter-curse."

"Danni, you don't think he's trying to- to resurrect his wife, do you?" Fred whispered like if she said it softly, Fate wouldn't hear her.

"I wouldn't be surprised but I don't think he can. Not with any of these anyway. He doesn't have her body even." Danni carefully closed the notebook.

"How do you know he doesn't?" Fred asked.

Danni rolled her eyes. "Duh! It was on the History Final last year! Bellatrix Lestrange's remains were burned, along with Voldemort's and are stored in the British Ministry of Magic. No one knows where exactly and those that may know aren't talking. He doesn't have her remains." She sighed. "Doesn't mean he isn't trying to." She sighed. "I hope Aunt Hermione can figure out what he's up to with all of this because I sure can't. I was hoping with her brains and my knowing him, we'd figure it out. Guess I better just hope for brains because you really can't follow the thought process of a crazy guy, can you?"

"Nope. I'm sleeping in here, by the way." Fred told her as she crawled under the covers.

"I figured." Danni put the notebook in her backpack and zipped the bag closed. "Hey! We're actually cousins!"

"I know! I am so excited by that!" Fred grinned.

"I would be more excited if we didn't have to pack everything." Danni made a face. "Everything in the house just needs to be packed and done. Like Poof!" She clapped her hands. "It's done!"

"God, that would be sweet." Fred agreed.

"Ran into Christine tonight. She says that there is discussion of a Going Away Party." Danni crawled under the covered and curled against Fred.

"Maybe they'll let us have one here." Fred suggested. "That way we can just go to our rooms if it gets bad."

"We can discuss it with them. All they can say is no." Danni agreed.

"Hey, Danni? Can I ask you something?" Fred asked. Danni nodded. "How are you? Really? I mean, about this whole 'Your Father isn't really your Father' thing?"

Danni shook her head slowly. "I don't know, Fred. It doesn't seem real."

"I think Mom feels the same way." Fred sighed. "Maybe the two of you should talk to each other about it."

"Maybe." Danni agreed.

"Think you'll ever call him something besides his first name?" Danni didn't answer so Fred continued carefully. "I think he wants you to. He looks at you and I can see he really loves you. I mean, he looks at you like Peter looks at Clarice."

"He's known about me longer than I've known about him. He's had time to get used to this." Danni finally said. "I'm trying... I really am."

Fred sighed. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Danni smiled and then grinned wickedly. "So, speaking of loving feelings toward people, when are you going to put Pel out of his misery?"

"I don't know what you mean." Fred advised her.

Danni snickered. "Yeah. And I'm the bleedin' Pope."

"Would your holiness like me to get you a band-aid?" Fred snipped. Danni giggled and hugged her cousin to her. The two were asleep within minutes.

***

The next morning, when everyone awakened, it was to boxes.

Hundreds of boxes.

Everything in the house had been boxed up besides luggage, large furniture and the beddings that they had slept in.

"Woh. Who went crazy with the packing?" Danni asked, walking into the dining room. "Aunt Audi? Couldn't you sleep? And couldn't you have left some of my clothing out?"

"Wasn't me." Audrina was standing in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips, a frustrated look on her face. "I can't find my coffee cup... or the coffee pot... or the coffee."

Fred glanced at Danni out of the corner of her eye. "Did you do it?" she mouthed. Danni shook her head.

"Did you?" she mouthed back. Fred shook her head and then began humming the theme from "The Twilight Zone".

Audrina came out of the kitchen and put her hands on her hips. "As much as I appreciate whoever did this, if I don't get some bloody coffee, heads will roll!" she announced.

"Well, I guess maybe we can run over to Aunt Nadine. Bet they have coffee." Danni made a face. "I could use some, too. And I would really like some pants besides these." She plucked at her pajama pants that happened to be covered in penguins dressed as pirates.

Peter strolled into the dining room, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Where did you get that?" Audrina demanded, seizing the cup.

"Formal dining room. Breakfast is in there, too." He didn't bother to try to take his cup back and just went back for more.

"Molly, did you do all of this?" Audrina asked when the Weasley Matriarch entered the room.

"No, dear. I didn't." She looked around, befuddled.

Danni, who had gone upstairs to find clothing, came back down wearing a pair of jeans.

"Okay, super weird. I went up there and not only was my bed made but my clothes were lying on it. Even socks." She said, extending one foot to show her socks, covered in penguins.

"What is it with you and penguins?" Charlie asked curiously.

"I like them. They got the short end of the stick but they make the most of it." she shrugged. "They're birds but they can't fly, they have to swim. If they're on land, they waddle. And whales eat them. So do seals. I like them. They set a good example, I think. Not like flamingos. They're show-offs."

"So you don't like flamingos?" Charlie frowned.

"They just aren't my favorite bird. Always flashing their hot pink feathers and standing on one leg. Show-offs." Danni shook her head slowly. "They must have low self-esteem to have to show off like that all the time. Just trying to make all the other birds feel inferior so that they'll feel better about themselves."

"I feel the same way about parrots." Charlie told her thoughtfully.

"You know, this is actually not the strangest conversation we've ever had in this house." Audrina commented casually. "But if the two of you don't mind, I, for one, would like to know who packed our house and made our breakfast."

Fred laughed, picking up a piece of toast. "Well, last night Danni said that everything in the house needed to be packed and it was. So maybe she should just say that whoever did all of this needs to appear." Danni glared at her. "And don't forget to clap your hands and say 'Poof'." Fred added.

Danni continued to glare at her.

"Oh come on. Do it. Do it!" Fred teased.

Danni rolled her eyes. "Whoever packed the house and made breakfast needs to appear. Poof!" She clapped her hands. "Fred, you are such a dork. I swear you ar-"

A small house elf appeared with a "pop".

"Mistress called?" she asked politely.

Danni looked at her, looked around, looked at her hands and then said, "I need those new boots I saw two weeks ago. The ones that came to my knees and had the really sweet buckles. Poof!" She clapped her hands. She looked around. "Damn."

"Language." Molly and Audrina said absently.

"Where did you come from?" Charlie asked the house elf.

"I was sent to care for Mistress Danielle. She belongs to me." She turned and looked at Danni. "Such a pretty mistress. You were a pretty baby, too."

"Uh. Thanks?" Danni blinked a couple of times. "You're my babysitter?"

"Nanny." the elf corrected her. "That was my role when the Master brought you home until the Master took you away."

Danni leaned toward the elf, squinting. She peered closely at the elf, twisting her head around before sighing, dropping to her knees and looking up at the elf. Immediately her face lit up.

"Jo!" she cried happily. "Oh! I thought you were part of a dream or something!" She flung her arms around the elf who happily hugged her back.

"I am not a dream." she said carefully. "I have missed you as well, Miss."

"Why do you talk like that?" Fred asked, sitting in one of the chairs.

"The Master told us that we were not to speak until we learned to speak properly." Jo explained carefully. "We, of course, had to do as he ordered. I am Josephine. Only Miss may call me Jo." She smiled at Danni again. "It was your third word."

"What were her first two?" Charlie asked.

"'Dragon' was first and 'mine' was second." Josephine smiled fondly. "Her fourth was 'no'."

"You have a nanny." Fred advised Danni.

Danni shrugged. "Well, at least it's not a babysitter."

"Although I have been saying for years that you need one." P.L. commented, strolling in. "When did you get a house elf?" He blinked a couple of times.

"Oh my God. That is the most startled I have ever seen Pel look!" Fred giggled.

"Why is your house packed?" Jason asked, walking in. "Why can't our house be packed?"

"Where's Clari?" Brandon stepped around his twin and took a piece of bacon.

"Where _**is**_ Clari?" Danni asked, straightening.

"Hey! Clarice! Come eat!" Fred bellowed up the stairs.

"Inside voice, please." Audrina told her daughter.

"I can't!" Clarice sounded strained when she yelled downstairs.

"Why not?" Peter called back.

"My clothes are gone!" Clarice sounded ready to start shrieking in frustration.

"So? Come down in your pajamas." Jason called.

"I would if I could!" Clarice managed to yell with dignity.

Danni snickered. "You slept in the nude again, didn't you?"

"Shut up, Danni." They could all hear her mutter in a bad tempered tone. "I fell asleep after my shower. I have a towel up here and that's about it."

Fred and Danni snorted gleefully.

"Jo, would you mind?" Danni asked.

Josephine shook her head. "I do not mind if Clarice sleeps in the nude."

Danni snickered.

"You say that you influenced her for the first few years of her life?" Brandon asked. "That explains a lot."

"Would you please go help Clarice find some clothing?" Danni clarified.

Josephine nodded and disappeared. Danni immediately turned to Charlie.

"I know that look." she announced.

"What look?" he asked, scowling.

"The look that says you are about to do a dragon impression and freak out because he sent a house elf to take care of me." she replied. "I have only known you for like a week and I already know that look. And it is silly to refuse to let that poor house elf who never did anything wrong and whose fault it is not that she belonged to the Lestrange family stay when she obviously wants to."

"Belonged?! She still does!" he snapped.

"No, she belongs to _**me**_!" Danni snapped back. "She said so!"

"She could be here to take you back to him!" Charlie's voice raised.

"And I'll tell her to bring me back!" Danni let her voice raise as well.

"And what happens when his orders supersede yours?" Charlie asked. "And you're stuck with Rodolphus fucking Lestrange again?"

"Then I guess you'll have to come to Wales and get me back from Rodolphus fucking Lestrange!" Danni retorted petulantly. "But I am not making her go away! I like her!"

"Don't curse at your father!" Charlie let his voice raise to a yell. "And you will if I tell you to!" The tension in him snapped at her words.

It was the excuse that Danni had obviously been waiting for.

"Then don't curse at your daughter first!" she screamed. "And I don't think I can! She didn't say she belonged to me, she said _**I**_ belong to _**her**_!" She lifted her chin furiously. "And furthermore-" Fred clapped a hand over her mouth and leaned close.

"Don't!" she hissed.

Bill grabbed Charlie's arm and just shook his head.

Everyone else in the room watched them like they were at a tennis match, looks of shock on all of their faces. Clarice had come downstairs and P.L. had grabbed Josephine when she had seen her Miss Danni being yelled at.

Charlie and Danni glared at each other, panting and flushed. Charlie took a deep breath.

"I shouldn't be yelling at you. You're not the one I'm upset with. I apologize for raising my voice and for cursing." he said carefully.

"I'm sorry, too. This is a really tense situation and we lost it for a minute there." Danni replied in an incredibly controlled voice. "I would like it very much if Josephine stays. We can make sure she's not out to get us and all that but I really want her to stay."

"For now she can." Charlie agreed. "But if I think for even a second that she's a danger, she's gone."

"Fair enough." Danni was shaking with the effort to keep from yelling anymore. "If you will all excuse me, I need to go... elsewhere. I need to... I need to go beat something up."

The rest of the Six followed her as she limped from the house.

"That was brilliant." Charlie muttered. "Scream at her. Brilliant."

"Come on, little brother. Let's go blow off some steam." Bill led Charlie away.

Bill led Charlie out to the sidewalk and waited.

It didn't take long.

Charlie began walking quickly down the block.

"I didn't mean to yell at her. I'm not mad at _**her**_. I'm mad at everything else, I think, but not _**her**_. It's not _**her**_ fault." Bill nodded. "But I'm frustrated. So bloody frustrated. And scared. He wants her back. He's insane. And she- she's this weird contradiction! She's confident but- but it's like she's the walking wounded! I don't know what to do or how to handle it and I can't fix it!" Bill continued to nod as his younger brother stormed around the block, ranting about everything that was on his mind.

They had reached the front gate again when Charlie turned and looked at Bill, his expression raw. "What if she never calls me anything but 'Charlie'?" he asked. Bill thought briefly of advising his brother that he heard Danni call him something decidedly not Charlie on her way out the door but decided against it.

"She will." he assured him. "It's only been a week, Charlie."

"She calls you 'Uncle Bill' and Mom and Dad 'Grandma and Grandpa' and everyone else is 'Aunt' or 'Uncle' but she calls me 'Charlie'." He looked pained. "Why am I different?"

"Because you're more important." Bill tried to explain. He took a deep breath. "Any of us could reject her and she would recover. You... if you reject her, she'll never recover and she's afraid of that. And yes, I know you would never do that but she doesn't yet. Give her some time. Just keep showing her that you're not going anywhere and that you love her and she'll start to trust you and she'll call you something other than your first name. You'll see."

Charlie opened his mouth to reply but stopped as a head landed in front of him and rolled into the street.

Both men blinked.

"Oh bugger. We lost one."

"I hate it when they get away."

"Well, whose turn is it to go get this one?"

Bill knelt and picked up the head, frowning.

It was the head of a bearded, grinning little man with a bright red cone hat on.

It was also made of cement.

Their niece, Fred, peeked over the fence.

"Oh, hey! Can I have that back, please? Put a little too much swing in that last one." She extended her hand. Bill raised his eyebrows at Charlie but handed back the head.

"Just working off a little steam." she chirped.

"By knocking the heads off statues?" Charlie asked.

"Hey, it's not even noon and we aren't even sixteen. Not like we can go knock back a couple." Fred shrugged. "Oh, Uncle Charlie, heard from Valentine Larkin. She and Jack and a couple of their kids will be here around 2. And Tante Marie called and said she has found what your problem is and is making you something to help with some of the problems that are coming. And she also said not to worry, what's wrong with you isn't bad. She promised."

"Now, Fred! She looks like she's about to take out anger on the donkey and his little cart!" Brandon called. "Save my ass and his cart!"

There was a large "crack" that was nearly drowned out by an animalistic bellow and then nothing at all.

The eldest Weasley Brothers discovered one more odd sight when they went to investigate the happenings.

Danni, armed with a Beater's Bat, was bashing statues from the garden while her friends fixed them and stepped away for it to happen again. She was also apparently ranting while they nodded and replied once in awhile.

Bill snickered. "Just like you." he commented.

Danni started beating a statue of a little bearded, smiling man in a blue pointed hat, lifting the bat far over her head and then bringing it down as hard as she could, over and over, sending pieces of debris flying.

"Nope. That's all Mia." Charlie snickered.

"And maybe Mum." Bill flinched when Danni started kicking the pile of debris.

The five members of the Six that were not attacking garden statues noticed the two men and got Danni's attention. She gave the debris one last kick and looked at them. She snorted and shoved a lock of sweaty hair from her forehead. She removed her wand from a holster on her arm and flicked it quickly.

"It said something Anti-Semitic." she announced, nudging the debris with her toe. Then she tossed her hair over her shoulder and sauntered away.

The fact that she could still saunter with a limp impressed him.

"You know, I think her leg has gotten a lot better in just a week." Bill commented.

Charlie just smiled.


End file.
